Stocks edged lower in morning trading on Wall Street
Friday, putting major indexes on track for the weekly losses after several sharp
moves both up and down over the last few days.

The S&P 500 fell 1.66% to 4,216.00 as of 11:00 am
Eastern Time Zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 401.27 points or 1.18%
to 33,515.12. The Nasdaq fell 221.26 points or 1.72% to 12,650.21.

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Major indexes have been swinging between highs and lows
throughout this week as the latest round of corporate earnings hit the market
in force. Investors have been watching the latest round of financial reports
from major technology companies, industries and retailers.

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The volatile week led to a disappointing month for stocks
as traders are concerned about the interest rate hike by Federal Reserve to
curb the soaring inflation. Higher interest rates will lead to an increase in
borrowing costs across the board for people buying cars, using credit cards and
taking out mortgages to buy homes. The S&P 500 is moving towards a 6.7%
loss for April, which would be its worst month since the COVID-19 pandemic
struck in 2020.

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E-commerce giant Amazon plunged 11.7% after posting a
quarterly loss and giving investors a disappointing revenue forecast. The weak
forecast from Amazon comes as investors are concerned about a potential
slowdown in consumer spending along with rising inflation.

The Commerce Department on Friday said that an inflation
metric closely watched by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.6% in March 2022
compared with a year-ago period, the highest 12-month surge in almost 40 years.
Soaring prices are impacting household budgets and the health of the economy.

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Bond yields surged after the reports on inflation. The
yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.88% from 2.85%.

The Fed chair has indicated the central bank may hike
short-term interest rates by double the usual amount at upcoming meetings,
starting next week. It has already raised its key overnight rate once, the
first such increase since 2018.