US stocks slip as investors digest hawkish Fed comments on future rate hikes

• US stocks slipped Friday on concerns that stubborn inflation will drive more rate hikes.
• Fed officials James Bullard and Loretta Mester say more tightening could be needed to bring prices down.

US stocks dipped on Friday on interest rate concerns following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials on the path of future rate increases.

US treasury yields were up across the curve as traders bet on odds of higher interest rates after this week's Producer Price Index reading came in higher than expected and pointed to stubbornly high inflation.

Fed officials James Bullard and Loretta Mester this week said further interest rate hikes could be warranted to keep up the fight against inflation. Cleveland Fed President Mester said she had seen a "compelling economic case" for delivering another half-point rate hike in the fed funds rate at the previous central bank meeting. Meanwhile, St. Louis Fed President Bullard said further rate increases will "lock in" easing inflation as well.

Bank of America on Friday predicted that the US central bank will hike interest rates by 25 basis-points at its June meeting, piling onto predictions of another hike coming at the March meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:

• S&P 500:4,067.44, down 0.56%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,612.84, down 0.25% (84.01 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 11,771.31, down 0.72%

Here's what else is happening today:

• A little-known hedge fund delivered a 193% return last year to investors after its founder made a huge bet that US interest rates would rise.

• Shares in a leading Chinese investment bank nosedived over 20% after its billionaire founder went missing.

• Binance secretly moved $400 million from its US partner to a trading firm managed by the crypto exchange's CEO Changpeng Zhao, according to Reuters.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices declined. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.5% to $75.73 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slumped 3.2% to $82.45 a barrel.
• Gold slipped less 0.8% to $1,836.60 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield increased by four basis points to 3.88%.
• Bitcoin fell 2.4% to $23,793.57.