Rocky stock market faces Fed test

Worries over an increasingly hawkish Fed have helped drag the benchmark S&P 500 index down about 11.5% so far in 2022, on track for the biggest percentage drop to start the year in over half a century.

NEW YORK: A volatile stock market faces a critical test next week, when the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to raise interest rates and give more insight on its plans for tightening monetary policy to fight surging inflation.

Worries over an increasingly hawkish Fed have helped drag the benchmark S&P 500 index down about 11.5% so far in 2022, on track for the biggest percentage drop to start the year in over half a century. The month of April has marked the biggest monthly fall since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.