Stocks are falling after hawkish comments on rates from Fed's Powell

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling on concerns about interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish testimony to Congress this week.

At 14:06 ET (18:06 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 154 points or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.6%.

Powell, appearing in the House and Senate for his semi-annual testimony about the economy, said more rate increases are likely to come in the months ahead even though the Fed paused on another rate hike last week.

Futures markets see a greater than 70% probability that rates will rise another quarter of a percentage point when the Fed next meets in July.

On Friday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said beating inflation was the central bank’s top priority. “Getting inflation down is Job One, inflation is too high,” Bostic said.

He and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee have talked about the importance of having patience to see how well the Fed’s actions to date have worked, as the effect of monetary policy can take some time to emerge.

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said he isn’t convinced that inflation is on a steady path down toward the Fed’s 2% target. “I’m still waiting for the haze to clear,” Barkin told reporters on Thursday.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters that two more rate hikes this year is a "very reasonable" projection. She added that given how quickly rates have risen already, moving cautiously from here is wise. 

Stocks moving today

Shares of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) fell 0.1% after its $10.3 billion settlement with public water systems in the U.S. to resolve claims linked to “forever chemicals.”

CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX) shares rose about 9.2% after the used-car retailer's cost-cutting efforts helped it beat first-quarter profit market expectations.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) shares fell 2.4% as it faced a possible strike by unionized workers last week. The union claims it banned Pride Month decorations in its stores.