Friday June 22, 2022

// June 17th, 2022 // Daily News

MARKETS

Stocks slip on Friday as the S&P heads for its worst week since March 2020

Top market watchers weigh in on whether there’s another leg down for stocks, or the tightening effects have been priced in

Stocks slipped on Friday as Wall Street attempted to find its footing after a brutal week of selling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 10 points, or 0.03%, while the S&P 500 inched 0.1% lower and the Nasdaq Composite traded 1.2% higher.

Stocks were volatile in Friday’s trading, switching between gains and losses. It comes as investors grow increasingly worried about a potential economic slowdown. Several key pieces of economic data fell short of forecasts this week, ranging from May retail sales to housing starts. Additionally, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by the most since 1994.

Market volatility could be heightened Friday thanks to “quadruple witching.” This refers to the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures, single-stock futures, stock options and stock index options. This event happens once a quarter and typically leads to a surge in trading volume, making for choppy trading action as traders close out positions.

“It’s clear that there’s still some volatility and that’s a situation that’s going be with us for a while given the rising uncertainty,” said John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics. “I do think that after the extreme moves that we’ve seen over the past week, it’s sort of an exhausted market looking to a three-day weekend and just trying to find a place to settle in.”

The S&P 500 is down 6% and could be headed for its worst weekly performance since March 2020. All 11 of its sectors are at least 15% below their recent highs.