Stock Market Today: Dow in Biggest Loss of 2022 as Fed Fears, Earnings Bite

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The Dow suffered its worst decline of the yr on Friday, as a sea of purple swept over shares following principally disappointing quarterly earnings from corporates and rising worries about aggressive Federal Reserve price hikes.  

The slipped 2.8%, or 981 factors, the fell 2.8%, and the fell 2.6%.

Well being care was one of many worst performing sectors on the day, pressuring the broader market paced by a droop in HCA and Intuitive Surgical.

HCA Holdings (NYSE:) fell 22% after reporting blended quarterly outcomes and reducing its full-year steerage following the affect of the pandemic and rising prices.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:) fell greater than 14% as its better-than-expected first-quarter outcomes have been overshadowed by “the shortage of follow-through on the process information and the commentary round a doubtlessly softer U.S. capital pipeline,” Raymond (NS:) James stated because it lower its worth goal on the inventory to $330 from $334.

Sentiment on shares was additionally soured by expectations that the Federal Reserve is ready for a fair tighter path of financial coverage following hawkish remarks from Chairman Jerome Powell a day earlier.

Powell on Wednesday stated {that a} 50 basis-points hike was on the desk for the Might assembly, and added that the central financial institution was open to front-loading multiple 50 foundation level hike past the Might assembly.

“The market was already anticipating a 50bps hike subsequent month. Going ahead, nevertheless, towards the backdrop of this week’s Fed commentary, a fair bigger 75bp hike is now on the desk,” Stifel stated in notice.

The briefly rose to its highest since 2018, earlier than giving up positive aspects. Whereas the 2-year Treasury yield, which is extra delicate to the Fed’s price hikes, continued to advance.  

In opposition to the backdrop of rising charges, the enemy of progress shares, tech continued to commerce within the purple. 

Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Amazon (NASDAQ:), Microsoft  (NASDAQ:), Apple (NASDAQ:) and Meta (NASDAQ:) have been down greater than 2%.

Communication providers have been additionally the massive drag on the broader market after Verizon Communications (NYSE:) suffered its greatest drop in additional than two years. The telecoms big lower its full-year gross sales forecast.

In different information, Mattress Bathtub & Past Inc (NASDAQ:) jumped greater than 6% on studies that the corporate is fielding curiosity for its BuyBuy Child enterprise.