U.S. Stocks Remain Sharply Lower In Afternoon Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved sharply lower early in the session on Friday and continue to see significant weakness in afternoon trading. The major averages are extending the sharp pullback seen over the two previous sessions, falling to their lowest intraday levels in a month.

In recent trading, the major averages have fallen to new lows for the session. The Dow is down 510.42 points or 1.5 percent at 32,691.80, the Nasdaq is down 158.32 points or 1.5 percent at 10,652.21 and the S&P 500 is down 64.96 points or 1.7 percent at 3,830.79.

The extended sell-off on Wall Street comes amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

The Fed's hawkish tone in Wednesday's monetary policy announcement has added to worries about the central bank's aggressive rate hikes tipping the economy into a recession.

While inflation has recently shown signs of slowing, the Fed signaled it plans to continue raising interest rates next year.

A recent batch of disappointing economic data has led to fears the Fed's fight against inflation is already taking its toll on the economy.

Next week, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Fed.

With Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying the central bank will require "substantially more evidence" inflation is on a sustained downward trend before halting its rate hikes, traders are likely to keep a close eye on the inflation reading.

Sector News

Natural gas stocks continue to see substantial weakness in afternoon trading, resulting in a 3.3 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The index has tumbled to its lowest intraday level in almost two months.

The sell-off by natural gas stocks comes amid a steep drop by the price of the commodity, with natural gas for January delivery plunging $0.377 or 5.4 percent to $6.593 per million BTUs.

Interest rate-sensitive commercial real estate and utilities stocks also remain under pressure, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average down by 3.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

A sharp decline by the price of crude oil is also weighing on oil producer and oil services stocks, as crude for January delivery is slumping $1.75 to $74.36 a barrel.

Airline, housing and networking stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.9 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have climbed well off their worst levels but continue to see modest weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.8 basis points at 3.468 percent.