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The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 816 points, or 2.5%. as stocks slumped on Friday after a highly anticipated inflation report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices and consumer sentiment hit a record low.
The S&P 500 fell 2.8%, while Nasdaq Composite sank 3.5%.
The sell-off was broad, with nearly every member of the 30-stock Dow in the red. Apple dropped 2.9%, while Microsoft and Dow, Inc. fell more than 3%.
The drop for stocks means that Wall Street is headed for yet another losing week. Entering Friday, the Dow was lower by 1.9%, on track for its 10th down week in the past 11. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both off by more than 2%, on pace for their ninth losing week in 10.
The May consumer price index report came in at its highest level since 1981, putting pressure on the stock market. The report showed prices rising 8.6% year over year, and 6% when excluding food and energy prices.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting year over year increases of 8.3% for the main index and 5.9% for the core index.
“It’s confirming some of the fears I’ve been hearing from investors this week,” said Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. She said alarm over inflation has been driving stocks lower this week.
“Does it sort of force equities to stay at the bottom the range it’s been in? Perhaps. I don’t think this is enough to force it down to new lows,” Calvasina added.
“It just reinforces the impact the CPI number had on consumer psyche. We can guess this is going to have a negative future impact on consumer spending. It’s a shocking number but this is what inflation does when it’s running as hot as it is,” said Peter Boockvar of Bleakley Advisory Group.
The hot inflation reading could lead traders to price in more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve later this year. The 2-year Treasury yield, which is seen as one of the most sensitive to Fed rate hikes, jumped above 2.9% on Friday.
Tech stocks were under pressure as investors grappled with higher rates and a potential recession. Shares of Netflix dropped nearly 5% following a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. Chip giant Nvidia slid 4%.
Banks and cyclical stocks also moved lower, possibly reflecting recession fears. Shares of Wells Fargo shed 4%. Boeing dropped 3.6%.