Stocks fell lower on Thursday as another quarterly earnings report from Nvidia (NVDA) couldn’t overcome fresh comments from the Federal Reserve suggesting interest rates will need to remain high for an extended period of time to bring down inflation.
Close to noon EST on Thursday, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down 1.2% and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down about 0.5%, or 166 points. .
In an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schoonberger on Thursday, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said it was “highly likely” that the central bank would need to keep interest rates high to bring down inflation.
“I think it’s going to take some time to really make sure we see the continued realignment of demand and supply that is needed to get inflation back on track that will be back to 2%. [in] “We need a reasonable amount of time,” Collins said in an interview at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming.
“I think it’s very likely that we’ll need to hold on [interest rates at current levels] Collins added: “For a significant amount of time, but I wouldn’t say exactly where the peak is at this point. We may be close.” [a peak]but we may need to go a little further.
Investors will be closely watching Fed Chair Jay Powell’s speech on Friday morning for additional clues about the future course of policy.
Stocks ended Wednesday in the green across the board ahead of Nvidia’s earnings and the tech giant didn’t disappoint.
The company reported revenue of $13.51 billion, up 101% from last year, while adjusted earnings were $2.70 per share, up 429% from last year. Shares rose as much as 8% in pre-market trading on the news.
Those gains had narrowed to about 2.7% by midday.
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
“Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst.”