NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Stocks are falling again on Wall Street Friday, and the S&P 500 is on track for its first back-to-back weekly drop since the turn of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wall Street\u2019s benchmark index was 0.8% lower in early trading, a day after sliding to its worst loss in four weeks on worries inflation isn\u2019t slowing as quickly and as smoothly as hoped. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 152 points, or 0.5%, at 33,544, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stocks have hit turbulence in February after shooting higher in January on hopes that cooling inflation could get the Federal Reserve to take it easier on interest rates and that the economy could avoid a severe recession. Reports recently, though, have shown more strength than expected in everything from the job market to retail sales to inflation itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s forced a drastic recalibration on Wall Street as investors move their forecasts for interest rates closer to the \u201chigher for longer\u201d stance that the Federal Reserve has long been espousing. High rates can drive down inflation, but they also hurt investment prices and risk causing a severe recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Economists at Goldman Sachs added one more hike by the Fed in June to their forecast, meaning they see its key short-term rate ultimately rising to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. That rate was at virtually zero a year ago, and it hasn\u2019t topped 5.25% since the dot-com bubble was deflating in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fear is that if inflation proves even stickier than expected, it could push the Fed to get even more aggressive than it\u2019s prepared the market for. Such movements have been most clear in the bond market, where yields have soared this month on expectations for a firmer Fed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two-year Treasury yield rose to 4.68% from 4.62% late Thursday and from less than 4.10% earlier this month. It\u2019s approaching its heights from November, when it reached its highest point since 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 10-year yield, which helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans, rose to 3.88% from 3.84% late Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still offering some support to the stock market despite those worries are remaining hopes that the economy can avoid a worst-case recession. Jobs are still plentiful, and shoppers are still spending to prop up the most important part of the economy, consumer spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But critics say many of those areas also tend to be among the last to feel the effects of higher interest rates and may still topple. And the strength in the economy has been continuing even after the Fed has already raised rates at the most aggressive pace in decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFed tightening always \u2018breaks\u2019 something,\u201d investment strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a BofA Global Research report. He said the S&P 500 could fall to 3,800 by March 8, which would mark a drop of a little more than 7% from its closing level on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n