Skip to Main Content.
Site navigation
Fidelity.com Home
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log In
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log Out
  • Accounts & Trade
    • Portfolio Log In Required
    • Portfolio
    • AccountPositions Log In Required
    • AccountPositions
    • Trade Log In Required
    • Trade
    • Trading Dashboard Log In Required
    • Trading Dashboard Log In Required
    • Active Trader Pro
    • Transfers
    • Cash Management Log In Required
    • Cash Management
    • Bill Pay Log In Required
    • Bill Pay
    • Full View Log In Required
    • Full View
    • Security Settings Log In Required
    • Security Settings
    • Account Features Log In Required
    • Account Features
    • Statements Log In Required
    • Statements
    • Fidelity Alternative Investments Program Log In Required
    • Tax Forms & Information
    • Retirement Distributions Log In Required
    • Fidelity Rewards+registered trademark Log In Required
    • Fidelity Rewards+registered trademark Log In Required
    • New Account Checklist Log In Required
    • Lending Solutions-Line of Credit Log In Required
    • Refer a Friend
  • Planning & Advice
    • What We Offer
    • Build Your Plan
    • My Goals
    • Financial Basics
    • Building Savings
    • Robo Investing Plus Financial Advice
    • Wealth Management
    • Find an advisor
    • Retirement
    • Life Events
    • Saving & Investing for a Child
    • Charitable Giving
  • News & Research
    • News
    • Wealth Management Insights
    • Watch List Log In Required
    • Quotes
    • Quotes
    • Alerts Log In Required
    • Mutual Funds
    • Stocks
    • Fixed Income, Bonds & CDs
    • ETFs
    • Options
    • Markets & Sectors
    • IPOs
    • Annuities
    • Learning Center
    • Notebook
    • Notebook
  • Investment Products
    • Mutual Funds
    • Retirement & IRAs
    • Stocks and Trading
    • Crypto
    • Direct Indexing
    • Fixed Income, Bonds & CDs
    • ETFs
    • Options
    • Sustainable Investing
    • Cash Management & Credit Cards
    • Managed Accounts
    • 529 College Savings
    • Health Savings Accounts
    • Annuities
    • Life Insurance & Long Term Care
  • Why Fidelity
    • The Fidelity Advantage
    • Planning & Advice
    • Trading
    • Straightforward Pricing
    • Insights & Tools
    • Security & Protection
    • Marketplace Solutions
    • About Fidelity
    • Careers
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log In
  • Customer Service
  • Profile
  • Open an Account
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Log Out
Content and data provided by various third parties and Fidelity − Terms of Use
  • Research >
  • Stocks >
  • News & Events >

Stock Details


  • Snapshot
  • Detailed Quote
  • Advanced Chart &
    Technical Analysis Opens in New Window
  • News & Events
  • Compare
  • Analyst Opinions
  • Research Reports
  • Key Statistics
  • Earnings
  • Dividends
  • Ownership & Insiders
  • Financial Statements
  • SEC Filings

RELATED RESOURCES

  • Stock Research Overview
  • Stock Screeners
  • Markets & Sectors
  • Fidelity Learning Center Opens in New Window
Print Format
Change Text Size:
  • Default text sizeA
  • Larger text sizeA
  • Largest text sizeA

US STOCKS-Wall St tumbles as investors fret on weak earnings, rate hikes

BY Reuters
— 4:00 PM ET 04/22/2022

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* Healthcare stocks slump on HCA, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) numbers

* Schlumberger (SLB) gains on higher first-quarter profit

* Gap falls after cutting quarterly sales forecast (Updates prices to close)

By David French

April 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street slumped to a lower close on Friday, ending a whipsaw week of surprise earnings news and increased certainty around aggressive near-term interest rate rises, which also pushed them into negative territory for the week.

It was the third straight week of losses for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while the Dow Jones posted its fourth weekly decline in a row.

All three indexes were trading more than 2% down for much of the afternoon on Friday.

Exaggerated trading swings have become more common recently, as traders adjust to new data points from earnings, as well as when rates will rise again. For the Nasdaq, it had already posted seven session in April, out of 14 trading days prior to Friday, where the index either rose or fell by more than 2%.

"It's not very common, over the course of my time doing this job, for the market to move 2% in either direction and to think 'there's not too much to read into that'," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"That's not normal, but that's just how things have been for such a long time now."

Concerns about risks from interest rate hikes continued to reverberate after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish pivot on Thursday, where he backed moving more quickly to combat inflation and said a 50-basis-point increase would be "on the table" when the Fed meets in May.

The idea of "front-end loading" the U.S. central bank's retreat from super-easy monetary policy, which Powell articulated support for on Thursday, has also forced traders to re-evaluate how aggressive subsequent rate rises would be.

The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, soared on Friday.

Meanwhile, the latest earnings forecasts to jolt investors came from healthcare, with HCA Healthcare (HCA) and Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG) among the worst performers on the S&P 500.

HCA slumped after reporting a downbeat profit view, while other hospital operators felt the contagion, including Tenet Healthcare (THC), Community Health Systems (CYH) and Universal Health Services (UHS).

Surgical robot maker Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) dropped after it warned of weaker demand from hospitals due to tighter finances.

All 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, although healthcare was not the only industry suffering.

Materials was weighed by Nucor Corp (NUE) - down after hitting a record high after posting earnings on Thursday - and Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX), which slipped as investors fretted over how interest rate hikes would impact copper miners.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 121.68 points, or 2.77%, to end at 4,271.84 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 335.09 points, or 2.54%, to 12,839.56. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 973.22 points, or 2.80%, to 33,819.54.

The prospect of a more hawkish Fed has led to a rocky start to the year for equities, in particular tech and growth shares whose valuations are more vulnerable to rising bond yields.

Earnings are due next week for the four biggest U.S. companies by market capitalization: Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) , Amazon (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet.

The quartet, as well as Meta Platforms Inc (FB), which also has results on deck for next week, suffered a sell-off on Friday.

Investors are worried after streaming giant Netflix Inc's (NFLX) dismal earnings earlier this week sent shockwaves through big tech and stay-at-home darlings which benefited from pandemic factors such as lockdown measures.

Among other companies that reported results, Gap Inc (GPS) tumbled after the apparel company cut its forecast for quarterly sales, blaming execution challenges at its Old Navy brand and "macro-economic dynamics."

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) fell after disappointing full-year earnings forecast.

However, Schlumberger NV (SLB) gained after reporting a higher first-quarter profit, as rising oil prices due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine boosted the demand for oilfield services and equipments. (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar, Amruta Khandekar and Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Aditya Soni)

Copyright © Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

More SLB News

  • US STOCKS-Wall St benchmarks drop 2% on weak earnings, rate hike worries
    Reuters - 2:27 PM ET 04/22/2022
  • U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for fifth week -Baker Hughes
    Reuters - 1:24 PM ET 04/22/2022
  • Why Schlumberger Shares Are Climbing Higher
    Benzinga - 11:23 AM ET 04/22/2022
Fidelity Investments. Copyright 1998–2022 FMR LLC. 
All rights reserved. 

  • Terms of Use|
  • Privacy|
  • Security|
  • Site Map 
Close