Stock market today: Stocks slide for 5th session as Fed officials cast more doubt on rate cuts

• Stocks fell Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting its worst losing streak since October.
• More comments from Fed speakers poured cold water on rate-cut hopes.

US stocks on Thursday extended their losing streak to a fifth day, marking the longest downturn for the S&P 500 since October.

More cold water was poured on rate-cut hopes throughout the day, as several Federal Reserve speakers expressed further hawkishness on the outlook for monetary policy.

New York Fed President John Williams said there's no urgent need to slash interest rates with the US economy going strong, adding that a hike could still be in the cards if the situation calls for it.

"We have a strong economy, we want a strong economy, that's all very good news," Williams said at the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington."If the data are telling us that we would need higher interest rates to achieve our goals, then we would obviously want to do that."

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic echoed this, reiterating that he doesn't see lowering borrowing costs as appropriate until late in the year.

"Inflation is high, it's too high, and we need to get it to our 2% target," Bostic said at the Prosperity Partnership meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday. "I'm comfortable being patient."

Treasury yields responded with a jump toward the 5% mark, continuing their rise since last week's March inflation report showed prices picked up 3.5% annually.

Tech stocks hit a rough patch Thursday, but investors are eagerly awaiting earnings from mega-cap firms to offer fresh input for stocks to gain and break out of their rut. Netflix will report after the closing bell, with a number of companies that make up the Magnificent Seven set to begin reporting next week.

Over 12% of S&P 500 companies have already posted results, and 73% of them have beaten Wall Street's estimates, according to FactSet,

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 5,011.21, down 0.22%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 37,778.21, up 0.07% (+24.90 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,601.50, down 0.52%

Here's what else is going on today:

• The world's largest chipmaker just issued a warning that the industry's red-hot growth could slow.
• Don't buy the dip in stocks just yet as a wave of selling is about to bring the market to a bottom, according to one of the biggest bulls on Wall Street.
• Microsoft has 17% upside potential and upcoming earnings will show strong AI-driven growth, Bank of America says.
• Mark Zuckerberg overtakes Elon Musk as the world's 3rd-richest person as their companies' stocks go in opposite directions.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil was about flat at $82.69 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, edged lower to $87.05 a barrel.
• Gold rose 1.25% to $2,390.25 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose five basis points to 4.635%.
• Bitcoin rose 1.81% to $62,391.