Dow futures tumble by 300 points ...... head for big losing week on fear the Fed is overdoing it. FRI, SEP 23 20226:38 AM EDT Stock futures were lower on Friday to close out another losing week as investors fear the Federal Reserve’s aggressive hiking campaign to fight inflation will lead to an economic downturn.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 300 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures lost 1.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures shed 1.3%.
Friday is set to be the fourth negative session in a row for the major averages. The Fed on Wednesday enacted another super-sized rate hike of three-quarters a point and indicated it would do another at its November meeting.
Bond yields have soared this week on the Fed’s actions with the 2-year and 10-year Treasury rates hitting highs not seen in more than a decade.
Stocks that would suffer the most in a recession have led the losses this week with the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund off by more than 5%. The Real Estate Select Sectors SPDR Fund is down by 6%.
“You’ve just got this volatility that nobody seems to be able to get their head around,” said Tim Lesko, a senior wealth advisor at Mariner Wealth Advisors.
Lesko said more investors are starting to accept that a recession may be on the horizon after the Fed’s decision this week to hike rates by 75 basis points and FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam saying on CNBC last week that he believed one was imminent. Once that happens, Lesko said investors will react differently.
“At some point, they’ll figure out that recession doesn’t mean the end of the world, and they’ll start getting constructive on stocks again,” he said. “But right now, we’re acting as if the sky’s falling.”
Major averages are on pace for their fifth decline in the last six weeks. The Dow has given up about 2.4% this week and is nearing its 2022 closing low set in June. Both the S&P and Nasdaq saw slightly sharper declines, falling 3% and 3.3%, respectively, week to date. The S&P 500 is off by 21% so far in 2022.
Costco was down about 3% in premarket trading Friday. Although the retailer posted fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that topped analysts’ expectations, it is seeing higher freight and labor costs.