US stocks end losing week on downcast note
Wall Street stocks finished a difficult week on a downcast note on Friday, falling for a third straight session amid fears of a global slowdown. Major indices spent almost the entire session in the red as market watchers loudly speculated about the risk of a "hard landing" to the economy following aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to counter inflation. "The US economy will need a lot of luck to avoid a recession next year because the headwinds are about to intensify," said a note on Friday from Oxford Economics. The Fed on Wednesday undertook a half percentage point interest rate hike and signalled plans for more increases ahead. The Dow Jones finished down 0.9 percent at 32,920. The S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent to 3,852, while the Nasdaq declined 1.0 percent to 10,705. Among individual companies, Adobe climbed 3.0 percent as it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and projected solid sales growth for the 2023 fiscal year. Chief Financial Officer Dan Dum said strong demand for Adobe products will allow the software company to "capture the massive opportunities in 2023 and beyond." Goldman Sachs lost 1.0 percent following reports the investment bank could cut eight percent of its staff, around 4,000 employees, as it prepares for a slowing economy. (AFP)