By DAMIAN J. TROISE, Associated Press Business Wirter
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in morning trading Friday and Wall Street is on track for its fifth straight weekly loss.
The S&P 500 fell 0.9%. The index, which is a benchmark for the broader market’s health, is facing its worst weekly losing streak in nearly two years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 453 points, or 1.1%, as of 10:14 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%.
Stocks have been losing ground for weeks over uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. economy. A trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners threatens to worsen inflation and hurt both consumers and businesses. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s goal of 2% and tariffs could hurt the central bank’s efforts to ease the rate of inflation.
Businesses have been warning investors about tariffs, inflation and growing uncertainty about the impact to costs.
Nike slumped 7.9% after it forecast a steep decline in revenue in the current quarter, blaming geopolitical dynamics, new tariffs by the Trump administration and a less confident consumer.
FedEx tumbled 10% after the package delivery company said it expects revenue to be flat to slightly down year-over-year and lowered its per-share profit guidance.
Homebuilder Lennar fell 7% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected forecast for new orders and average sales prices for the current quarter. It said high interest rates, inflation, and waning consumer confidence are weighing on an already tough housing market.
High interest rates have been a key issue for the housing market. The Federal Reserve opted to hold its benchmark interest rate steady at its most recent meeting this week as it assesses the potential impact from tariffs and other U.S. policy shifts.
In the bond market, Treasury yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.21% from 4.23% late Thursday.
Airlines fell sharply. A fire knocked out power at London’s Heathrow Airport, forcing it to shut down and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers. American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines were all down more than 2%.
Markets in Europe fell. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.7% after the Bank of England held its main interest rate steady a day earlier.
Germany’s DAX slipped 1%.
Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
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