The main stock market indices opened in the red on Friday after a stronger-than expected inflation data weakened bets for a Fed rate cut.
The S&P 500 opened 0.88% or over 60 points lower at 6,848.22; Nasdaq plunged 1.30% or 300 points at open to 22,580.82, while Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 1.08% or 478.18 points lower at 49,021.02.
As of 10:30 a.m. EST, Dow Jones shed close to 700 points and traded 1.36% lower at 48,823.94, S&P 500 traded 0.7% lower at 6,861.09, and Nasdaq was trading 0.7% lower at 22,704.83.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) data showed prices paid to US producers rose more than forecasted, driven by services. The data which is indicative of mounting inflationary pressure on the economy, reiterated the likelihood of Fed keeping the repo rate steady.
"This morning's inflation readings could give the Fed another reason to be more patient with rate cuts and wait until the second half of the year before making any changes," Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management told news agency Bloomberg.
The S&P 500 is gearing up for its worst month since March last year after a February proved to be turbulent for stocks.
Shares of Netlflix Inc. surged 12% at open after the firm pulled out from the paramount acquisition deal. It pared gains to trade 8.1% higher at $91.44 as of 9:45 a.m. EST.
Concerns surrounding AI bubble and AI trade led to the slump in big tech stocks. Bellwether Nvidia Corp. extended losses to trade over 2% lower at $181.03, Microsoft Corp. fell 1.81% to trade at $394.45 and Meta Platforms Inc. dipped 1.67% to trade at $646.06.
Amazon.com Inc. also traded in red, 0.67% lower at $206.74. Google-parent Alphabet Inc., on the other hand traded 0.33% higher at $308.16. Tesla Inc. also fell nearly 1% to trade at $404.80.
After the markets opened, the sectoral indices traded split with six trading in the green and five trading in the red. Financials and Information Technology sectors led the decline, while Consumer Staples and Energy sectors led the gains.
Among the commodities, oil prices rose with Brent Crude trading 2.77% higher at $72.80 a barrel and the West Texas Intermediate rising 2.74% to $67 a barrel.
Most of the global currencies were little changed, along with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index. Only the British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3464.
Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, fell 1.9% to $66,211.15.
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