Wall St loses ground after Powell urges caution on rate cuts
Wall Street's main indexes tumbled on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there was no need to rush interest-rate cuts, pushing up U.S. Treasury yields and pressuring equities.
In a speech on Thursday, Powell pointed to ongoing economic growth, a solid job market, and inflation above the Fed's 2% target as reasons the central bank can afford to be careful as they determine the pace and scope of rate cuts going forward.
Powell's comments came after both consumer and producer prices data this week pointed to persistent inflation. On Friday, data showed U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in October, but underlying momentum in consumer spending appeared to slow at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 149.62 points, or 0.34%, to 43,601.24, the S&P 500 lost 40.21 points, or 0.68%, to 5,908.96 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 237.47 points, or 1.24%, to 18,870.18.
Source: Reuters
