(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the eased on Friday, as investors eagerly awaited monthly inflation data to see if the decades-high growth in prices has really peaked against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive efforts to tame it.

Report from the Labor Department is due to be available at 08:30 am. ET will show that U.S. consumer price Index (CPI), rose to 0.7% in May, from 0.3% April. However, it remains unchanged at 8.3% on an annual basis.

The core CPI price index, which does not include volatile foods and energy products is expected to fall from 6.2% annually to 5.9%.

A lower reading may indicate that prices have reached their zenith. However, recent price spikes to $123 per barrel raise new concerns that this might not be true.

This report is the final significant piece of inflation data prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting, which will take place on June 14-15.

An investor fears that a tight labor market and an inflation rate just below four decades high will force the Fed’s pandemic-era policy support withdrawing at a faster pace.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, the U.S. central bank is likely to increase its key interest rates by 50 basis points in July and next week, with increasing chances for a similar move later in September.

U.S. stocks are down sharply due to uncertainty over Fed’s policies, war in Ukraine, and long supply chain snarls.

This year has seen the blue-chip Dow drop 11.2%, the benchmark dropped 15.7%, and the tech-savvy Nasdaq lost 24.9%.

All three major indexes fell between 1.9% to 2.2% for the week as rates-sensitive growth stocks were under increased pressure due to higher Treasury yields.

6.41 AM ET ET Dow e-minis dropped 93 points (or 0.29%) and fell 7.25 points (or 0.18%), while they gained 8.5 points (or 0.07%).

Premarket trading saw Netflix Inc (NASDAQ) drop 3.5% after Goldman Sachs(NYSE:) reduced the stock of streaming giant to “sell” and “neutral” because of a possible weaker macro environment.