news/AMZN/2023.02.24/Wall St ends sharply down, posts biggest weekly drop of 2023.txt

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)*Dow's worst weekly performance in 5 months*PCE data comes in strong, showing resilient consumer*For the week, all down: Dow 2.99%, S&P 2.66%, Nasdaq 3.33%*Indexes down: Dow 1.02%, S&P 1.05%, Nasdaq 1.69%Feb 24 (Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes posted their biggest weekly drop
of 2023 after sharp losses on Friday, as investors braced for
the possibility of more aggressive rate hikes from the U.S.
Federal Reserve as U.S. economic data pointed to resilient
consumers.For the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, the
3% fall was its biggest weekly decline since September. It was
also the Dow's fourth straight weekly decline, its longest
losing streak for nearly 10 months.The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were
also down 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively.After a strong January, stocks have retreated this month as
a slew of economic data amplified worries that the U.S. central
bank might have to keep rates higher for longer.Data on Friday showed the personal consumption expenditures
(PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, shot up
0.6% last month after gaining just 0.2% in December. Consumer
spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S.
economic activity, jumped 1.8% last month, exceeding forecasts
for a 1.3% rise.Jason Pride, chief investment officer of private wealth
at Glenmede, said previous market cycles had witnessed similar
delayed reactions by the market to rising interest rates and
data releases, which helps explain volatile trading patterns as
investors slowly adjust."This market has not yet realized the likelihood of a
recession that we think is reality," he said, noting past rate
hikes normally had taken between six and 18 months before their
effects had fully filtered through into the economy."We don't think (a recession is) a given, but there's a
higher likelihood than the market has embedded in its thought
process."Traders of futures tied to the Fed's policy rate added to
bets of at least three more rate hikes this year, with the peak
rate seen in the range of 5.25%-5.5% by June.Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said the Fed should
raise interest rates higher than necessary if need be to get
inflation fully under control.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 336.99 points,
or 1.02%, to 32,816.92, the S&P 500 lost 42.28 points, or
1.05%, to 3,970.04 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped
195.46 points, or 1.69%, to 11,394.94.Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors fell, with real estate
, technology and consumer discretionary
the biggest decliners. Communication services
fell 1.4% to a sixth straight loss, its worst run
since a similar six-session skid in August.Megacap stocks including Tesla Inc, Amazon.com Inc
and Nvidia Corp slid between 1.6% and 2.6% as
Treasury yields rose.The yield on two-year Treasury notes, which are
highly sensitive to Fed policy, climbed to 4.826% - its highest
in nearly four months.Boeing Co slid 4.8% after the Federal Aviation
Administration said the planemaker temporarily halted deliveries
of its 787 Dreamliner jets.Adobe Inc sank 7.6% on reports the U.S. Justice
Department would block the Photoshop maker's $20 billion bid for
cloud-based designer platform Figma.The decline in Adobe's stock was the largest since Sept. 15,
the day the Figma agreement was announced.Meanwhile, Range Resources Corp jumped 11.9% in
late trading, its biggest gain in nine months, after Bloomberg
News reported that Pioneer Natural Resources was in
talks to buy it. Pioneer's stock fell 4.1% on the report.Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.31 billion shares,
compared with the 11.53 billion average for the full session
over the last 20 trading days.The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 162 new lows.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru
and David French in New York; Additional reporting by Sinead
Carew; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Sriraj Kalluvila and David
Gregorio)