us stocks tumbled friday afternoon after federal reserve jerome powell said the central bank will continue its battle against inflation until the job is done of getting the cost of living back to its 2 target see feds powell in blunt remarks at jackson hole says bringing down inflation will cause pain to households and businesses for the week the dow is heading for a drop of 36 while the sp 500 is on track to slide 34 and nasdaq is on pace to lose 38 factset data show at last check us stocks were falling sharply friday with losses led by the technologyheavy nasdaq composite after the federal reserve chair jerome powell reiterated his resolve to bring soaring inflation under control through higher interest rates in remarks that seemed even more hawkish than many investors anticipated powell tried to dispel any hopes for a lessaggressive monetary policy stance by insisting that the central bank will persist in its inflation fight even if that means causing some nearterm economic pain for american families reducing inflation is likely to require a sustained period of belowtrend growth powell said while higher interest rates slower growth and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation they will also bring some pain to households and businesses as us stocks fell early friday afternoon the sp 500s informationtechnology  communicationservices and consumerdiscretionary sectors seeing the biggest losses factset data show at last check all three areas were down more than 3 as growth stocks suffered more than value it feels like investors have literally been at the beach all summer and forgetting about the problems that exist economically said ryan belanger founder and managing principal at claro advisors in a phone interview friday this morning chair powells remarks just kind of refocused the lens here jake jolly senior investment strategist at bny mellon investment management said powells remarks solidified his staytough stance the market was pretty clearly set up for a hawkish sticking to the script type of speech and the initial impression is that was what chair powell delivered  and he did in in less than 10 minutes jolly said the key takeaway is he closed the door on this idea that there is going to be a shortterm pivot on fed policy readhow stocks perform as central bankers gather each year at jackson hole as the selloff accelerated wall streets fear gauge the cboe volatility index rose to a bit more than 24 according to factset data at last check that compares with a 200day moving average of about 247 factset data show in the bond market yields on the 10year and twoyear treasury notes were flat in friday afternoon trading with the spread between them in inverted territory ahead of powells remarks a batch of fresh economic data was released including a reading on the feds preferred inflation gauge the personalconsumptionexpenditures index headline pce dropped 01 for july and to 63 from 68 annually core pce which excludes food and energy prices and is closely watched by fed policy makers rose 01 on a onemonth basis but decelerated by a slightly biggerthanexpected amount to a 46 yearoveryear rate from 48 readinflation falls in july for the first time in 20 months key gauge shows personal incomes climbed 02 in july while consumer spending rose 01 below forecast the us trade in goods deficit sank 97 in july while inventories rose as powell spoke investors also received an update from the university of michigans survey of consumer sentiment which showed that consumers outlook on the economy improved in august while medium and longterm inflation expectations continued to moderate id chalk that up to the fact that the price of a gallon of gasoline has declined to under 4 a gallon wayne wicker chief investment officer at missionsquare retirement said of the improved sentiment in a phone interview friday consumer psychology can be impacted pretty significantly by how much its going to cost them to fill up their car which companies are in focus how are other assets faring  hear from carl icahn at the best new ideas in money festival on sept 21 and sept 22 in new york the legendary trader will reveal his view on this years wild market ride