U.S. stock market indexes declined on Friday as market participants assessed statistical data and quarterly reports from the country’s largest banks. The Nasdaq Composite lost more than 3 percent to close at its lowest level since July 2, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

A negative factor for all US stock indexes was the results of a monthly survey by the University of Michigan, which showed that inflation expectations for the medium term among Americans rose to 5.1% in October, up from 4.7% the previous month, which was the lowest level in a year. Long-term (5-year) inflation expectations rose to 2.9% from 2.7%.

“This is definitely negative for U.S. stock market indexes,” Aspiriant managing director of Investment Strategy Dave Grecek told MarketWatch. “If we continue to see inflation expectations continue to rise, it will be a very troubling signal to the Fed,” which is fighting the rising cost of living with aggressive interest rate hikes, he believes.

Expectations of high inflation are having an impact on people’s behavior. “People are starting to buy more today because they think prices can only get even higher tomorrow,” which makes the Fed’s job much more difficult, the expert notes.

Earlier, we reported that Tesla’s stock price fell 50% in one year.