As Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen hinted at a rate hike and removal of accommodative measures, U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds continued to slip Friday.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were 0.1% lower Friday.
Yellen said an interest-rate hike would be “likely appropriate” at the Fed’s upcoming meeting if employment and inflation meet the policy makers’ expectations, reports Jeanna Smialek for Bloomberg.
“At our meeting later this month, the Committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate,” Yellen said in prepared remarks at the Executives’ Club of Chicago.