Stocks sink on further bad news about US economy

US equities sank on Friday. US equities are also heading towards a second-straight weekly loss, as more negative and disappointing news on the US economy accelerate a sure decline. The S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Index were lower around 1.5%, while the Nasdaq fell 1.3%. Earlier in the session, the Nasdaq managed to move into the green territory.

Preliminary readings on the economic calendar in the United States this month from S&P Global have impacted stocks after showing additional deterioration in the economic activity.

S&P Global’s services PMI fell to a four-month low, while its manufacturing index hit a 31-month low in December. Business conditions are worsening ahead of the beginning of 2023, with a steep fall in the PMI indicative of GDP contracting in the fourth quarter at an annualized rate of around 1.5%.

Jobs growth has slowed down to a crawl as firms across both manufacturing and services take a much more cautious approach to hiring amid the slump in customer demand.

On Thursday, the November retail sales report was unexpectedly weak, prompting concern over the health of the U.S. consumer, which has been the driver of a better-than-expected economy this year.

After rebounding earlier this week, U.S. stocks are again on pace to log weekly losses again after last week saw the S&P 500 suffer its worst weekly loss since late September.

Investors also had an eye on crude oil early Friday, with WTI futures down over 3% to trade near $73.70 a barrel. Early this week, oil hit a new 2022 low.

Friday’s trading comes after Thursday’s deep sell-off that saw the Nasdaq fall more than 3%, as the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increase on Wednesday was followed by matching moves Thursday morning from the Bank of England and the ECB.