Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange February 4, 2014.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
US stocks dropped on Friday after a sell-off a day earlier the brought the S&P 500 to a 2022 low.
Data from the Commerce Department showed consumer spending picked up in August even as inflation rose.
US stocks this week were battered by turmoil in UK markets and escalating recession fears.
US stocks fell on Friday to head towards the end of a brutal month, with traders extending the week’s steep losses resulting from turmoil in UK markets and fears of a recession in the face of a hawkish central bank.
For the month, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are down more than 7%, while the Nasdaq has lost more than 9%.
Thursday’s session brought the S&P 500 to a new closing low for the year, while also shaving over 450 points of the Dow and almost 3% from the Nasdaq. And a day after consumer spending woes dragged Apple shares down nearly 5%, Nike on Friday tumbled 10% after it reported a big jump in inventories.
Traders on Friday morning were digesting Personal Consumption Expenditure data that showed core inflation rising year-over-year in August to 4.9%, up from 4.7% in July. The data also showed consumer spending was still steady, and up slightly even as high prices weigh on US households.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:
S&P 500: 3,634.92, down 0.15%Dow Jones Industrial Average: 29,150.92, down 0.26% (74.69 points)Nasdaq Composite: 10,718.81, down 0.17%
Here’s what else is going on this morning:
The pound fell further against the dollar as emergency talks in the UK over new budget and tax cut proposals failed to calm markets.Long-time bull Ed Yardeni warned that aggressive Fed moves to sharply raise interest rates could crush asset prices further and spark a deep recession. “The Big Short” investor Michael Burry sounded the alarm again on risks to the market, saying that a greater crisis than the 2008 recession could be looming.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
WTI crude was down 1.14% to $80.34. Brent, the international benchmark, fell 0.3% to $88.21Gold was up about 0.2% to $1,672 per ounce.The 10-year Treasury note fell about four basis points to 3.70%.Bitcoin was up slightly, trading at $19,292.