U.S. stocks are mixed after Fed officials stoke rate fears

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday after comments from Federal Reserve officials renewed fears about interest rates.

At 10:37 ET (15:37 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 70 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.7%.

Hotter-than-expected producer prices on Thursday prompted fears that the Fed would keep its monetary restrictive for the rest of the year. Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman said on Friday that interest rates will have to go higher to tame inflation. "I think there's a long way to go before we reach our 2% inflation objective and I think we'll have to continue to raise the federal funds rate until we see a lot more progress on that," Bowman said at a banking conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday.

And St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he wouldn't rule out supporting a half-percentage point rate increase at the March meeting. Many market watchers have been betting on a quarter of a percentage point increase.

Bullard said Thursday he supported the idea of a half-point hike in February to bring the benchmark rate above 5% as soon as possible. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester also said she saw a strong case for a bigger increase.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin was also scheduled to speak today.

Stocks have gyrated this week after the economic data pointing to inflation as well as a tight labor market.

Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell 4.5% after its experimental mRNA flu vaccine wasn't as effective as an approved vaccine against influenza B.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) shares jumped 16.6% after the gambling company reported a smaller-than-expected loss in the quarter and raised its outlook for 2023, benefiting as more states legalize sports betting.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) shares rose 6.6% after it raised guidance as farmers continue to buy new agriculture equipment.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 3.5% to $75.77 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures was down 3.1% to $82.52 a barrel. Gold Futures was down 0.4% to $1845.