Morning Report: US sharemarkets retreated on Friday

There were worries that the US Federal Reserve could start raising interest rates sooner-than-expected. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said he thinks US interest rate increases will begin next year as inflation rises faster-than-expected. Volatility was also heighted due to the quarterly expiration of both US options and futures contracts. Shares of Goldman Sachs fell 3.5% with JPMorgan Chase down 2.5%. Chevron shares slid 3.8%. The Dow Jones index shed 533 points or 1.6%. The S&P 500 index fell 1.3% and the Nasdaq index lost 131 points or 0.9%. For the week, the Dow slid 3.5% -its worst weekly loss since October 2020. The S&P 500 fell 1.9% and the Nasdaq lost 0.3%.