The US stock market fell on Friday as investors wrestled with new comments from the Fed Chair that indicate more interest rate hikes are in the offing.
Powell said at the debate that 50 basis points would be on the table for the May meeting, as the Fed struggles to contain an inflationary rate that has surged to 40-year highs in recent months.
Bank of America said in a Friday that it is now calling for a 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate.
The S&P 500 plummeted 2.7% and the Nasdaq crashed 3.8% for the week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 dropped for the third week in a row.
At 4:00 p.m., the US indexes stood here. The close is on Friday.
Despite the bearishness in the stock market, first-quarter corporate earnings continue to beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. According to data from Fundstrat, of the 95 companies that have reported so far, results are beating profit estimates by a median of six percent. Revenue estimates have been beating by 3%.
Cryptocurrencies are in a sideways range as the bear market continues. Over the past week, these were the five best performingcryptocurrencies.
The war in Russia has led to limits on the purchases of virtual currency in Ukraine. The National Bank of Ukraine is capping purchases of foreign currency at $3,300 a month.
The Chinese currency was on track for its worst weekly drop since 2015, as investors rushed back to the US. The renminbi fell 2.5% over the week to 6.53 per dollar.
According to a report, demand for oil in China is on pace to fall 20% this month, the biggest shock since the early days of COVID. The decline is equivalent to a drop in crude oil consumption.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell as much as 2%. The international benchmark for oil fell as much as 1.85%.
There was a 2.51% fall in the price of the digital currency. The price of ether dropped to $2,962.
The price of gold fell as much as 0.70%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to below 2.90%.
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