By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 retreated from all-time highs to close lower Friday, as a slump in Snap triggered a sea of red in tech just as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attempted to quell concerns about the prospect of earlier rate hikes.

Closed 0.1% lower at 4,544.98, just short of the closing record of 4,549.78. The added 0.2% or 74 points to the 0.8% decrease in the stock market.

Powell declared, “It’s time to reduce rates and taper,” This was in the context of rising concerns about the Fed’s ability to increase rates quickly to control inflation.

The Fed chief continued to suggest the pace of inflation remains transitory, though said the central bank would use its tools to “guide inflation back down to 2% over time.”

“At the same time, we think we can be patient and allow the recovery to take place and allow the labor market to heal,” he added.

Tech, which has played a big role in the recent market melt-up, was under pressure after Snap’s warning on slowing revenue growth following Apple’s privacy-related changes to its mobile operating system, iOS.

Apple (NASDAQ: ) earlier announced that the iOS 14 update will allow users to disable apps accessing the IDFA or track advertiser information on their iPhones.

Snap (NYSE 🙂 also blamed supply-chain headwinds for its below-consensus guidance in 4Q21.

But both supply issues and events “should ultimately prove transitory as advertisers progressively adopt new tools to more accurately measure events in a post-IDFA world and also as issues such as port congestion and labor shortages revert back to pre-pandemic levels,” Credit Suisse (SIX) CSGN stated in a note.

Facebook (NASDAQ), Twitter (NYSE) and Pinterest (NYSE) all saw a decrease of more than 4%.

In the meantime, financials were driven higher by stronger-than-expected quarterly performance from regional bank stocks. American Express

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ 🙂 increased its full-year 2021 growth outlook after third-quarter results. The company’s share rose more than 6% following the beating of both its top and bottom line.

“This is the strongest preliminary guide the company has introduced in many years […],” Wedbush said as it raised its price target on the stock to $800.00 from $775.00.

“Highlights include average loan growth in the mid 20s percentage range, net interest income in the mid 30s percentage range (we had previously assumed 24%), core fee income in the mid 20s percentage range…” it added.

American Express (NYSE) was up about 5% after it reported third quarter earnings, revenue and guidance that were higher than Wall Street expectations. It also guided 2022 earnings per shares within its top guidance range.

China is in the midst of a real estate transaction called Evergrande. It appears that Evergrande will avoid default following a major debt payment.

Other news: Digital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:) more than doubled adding to its 357% climb Thursday ahead of a widely expected SPAC’s merger with former President Donald Trump’s planned social media platform.