The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 slipped about 450 points and 1.9% on Friday, respectively. This brings the blue-chip index's week-to-date losses to roughly 4.6%, while the S&P 500 is down about 5.7% for the period. The two averages notched a third week of losses and worst weeks since 2020.
Investors will now shift their focus to the Federal Reserve meeting next week. Investors will look for clues on the central bank's timeline for raising interest rates and broadly tightening monetary policy.
“The markets are on edge ahead of next week’s Fed policy meeting since policymakers are preparing for an imminent rate lift-off in March,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “Uneven Q4 earnings results coupled with rising geopolitical tensions adds to the market jitters.”
