(Reuters) – U.S. Stock Index futures fell on Friday due to rising bond yields and pressure from growth stocks following the speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which cemented central bank’s hawkish pivot.

Powell supported the Fed moving faster to reduce inflation. He said Thursday that a 50 basis-point (bps) rise would be on the table when it meets in May. This resulted in Nasdaq closing the session with a drop of more than 2 percent.

Megacap growth stocks Apple Inc. (NASDAQ) are traded premarket. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ) declined while Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ) Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ) dropped as investors worried about how higher rates will impact their businesses.

Mixed results were seen at interest-rate sensitive banks. While the five-year yields rose above 3%, two-year yields hit a new record high of 2% since December 2018. [US/]

Traders see an 88.2% chance that Fed will raise the rate by 50 bps at its May meeting, and an 11.8% likelihood of 75 bps. [IRPR]

A more hawkish Fed could lead to an uncertain start to 2015 for equity markets, in particular tech shares and growth shares, whose valuations can be more susceptible to higher bond yields.

Comparable to 7.8% drop in benchmark, Nasdaq’s decline has been 15.9%.

At 6:41 AM. ET were down 124 point, or 0.3%, were down 16.25, or 0.0.37% and were down 52, or 0.38%.

Of the 88 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings for the first quarter, 80.7% of them have beat market expectations as of Thursday. According to data from Refinitiv, 66% beat expectations.

Gap Inc (NYSE) fell 14.3% following a reduction in its quarterly forecast. The apparel company blamed execution problems at Old Navy and “macroeconomic dynamics” for the slump.

Investors will also be awaiting a flash reading on S&P Global (NYSE:) composite PMI data for April after market opens.