U.S. Stocks Continue To See Substantial Weakness In Afternoon Trading

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have seen further downside over the course of the trading day on Friday. With the downward move, the major averages are extending the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

Currently, the major averages continue to post steep losses on the day. The Dow is down 582.74 points or 1.7 percent at 34,210.02, the Nasdaq is down 217.51 points or 1.7 percent at 12,957.14 and the S&P 500 is down 77.64 points or 1.8 percent at 4,316.02.

The sell-off on Wall Street may partly reflect ongoing concerns about the Federal Reserve aggressively tightening monetary policy.

In comments on Thursday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he saw merit in "front-end loading" policy moves and indicated a 50 basis point rate hike would be on the table at the central bank's next meeting in early May.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicates a 50 basis point rate hike at the May meeting is a near certainty.

Traders may also be moving out of stocks ahead of the release of a deluge of earnings news from big-name companies next week.

Coca-Cola (KO), General Electric (GE), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Boeing (BA), McDonald's (MCD), Twitter (TWTR), Amazon (AMZN), Intel (INTC) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are just a few of the companies due to report their quarterly results.

Among individual stocks, shares of Gap (GPS) are sharply lower after the apparel retailer lowered its first quarter sales guidance and announced the departure of Old Navy President and CEO Nancy Green.

Telecom giant Verizon (VZ) has also come under pressure after reporting first quarter earnings in line with estimates but providing disappointing guidance.

On the other hand, shares of Kimberly-Clark (KMB) have jumped after the consumer products company reported better than expected first quarter results and raised its full-year sales forecast.

Sector News

Steel stocks have moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 3.4 percent to its lowest intraday level in a month.

Substantial weakness also remains visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The sell-off by gold stocks comes amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery sliding $11.60 to $1,936.60 an ounce.

Healthcare stocks also continue to see significant weakness, resulting in a 2.9 percent slump by the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index.

Hospital operator HCA Healthcare (HCA) has helped lead the sector lower, plunging by 19.4 percent after reporting first quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.

Computer hardware, airline and brokerage stocks have also moved notably lower on the day, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

The major European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped by 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index plunged by 2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back well off their best levels but continue to see modest strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.2 basis points at 2.905 percent.