Dow drops 400 points on slowdown, recession fears

US stocks collapsed on Friday and were heading to record another losing week as investors are generally afraid that the Fed’s hawkish stance could lead to an economic downturn.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 470 points, or 1.55%, while the S&P 500 slid 1.8%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8%.

Friday marked the fourth successive negative session for the major averages, with the Dow falling below its June closing low and the 30,000 mark. The Fed on Wednesday enacted another super-sized rate hike of 75 basis points and indicated it would do another at its November meeting.

Stocks would suffer the most in case of recession, this anticipation has led this week’s losses with the S&P 500′s consumer discretionary sector off by 7%. Energy is down more than 8% as oil prices slump. Growth stocks including big technology names Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms fell on Friday.