Stocks, cryptocurrencies drop as fear of new interest rate hikes mount

Major indexes were down this past week as minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting revealed that most Fed governors support raising interest rates even further before the end of the year . Some fragmentation within the board began to appear at the July meeting that took interest rates to a range of 5.25%-5.5% . Certain members stated they would support further rate pauses, breaking away from the unanimity of opinion that marked the first meetings of this wave of hikes. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were both down 1.8% on the week at press time. The Nasdaq Composite is down 2.3% on a weekly basis.. Fed talk is likely one of the factors in the cryptocurrency sphere as well. Bitcoin lost 10% on a weekly basis, with a large drop Thursday evening. Ethereum also nosedived, losing 9% of its value by Friday. Big picture problematic for Target Walmart lost 3% after earnings, although the company beat analyst consensus estimates on revenue, which was up 5.7% year-on-year in the retailer’s second quarter earnings report . Although positive performance allowed management to raise its outlook for the rest of the year, investors continue to sell, responding to the general trend of volatility. As opposed to Walmart, competitor Target’s online sales fell last quarter , and the retailer missed analyst expectations for sales and cut its earnings outlook in the second-quarter report.. While Target’s stock losses this past week were not as significant as Walmart’s, the larger picture tells a different story. Walmart is up 6% in the last six months while Target is down a whopping 21%. Bank stocks also dropped this past week as Fitch Ratings warned that a potential dip in the industry’s outlook would cause the firm to review the ratings of specific banks , including possible downgrades for JPMorgan Chase, which was down 3% on the week. Cisco Systems is one of the exceptions in a down week. Shares traded higher after the company’s quarterly call beat expectations on revenue and earnings , and management communicated a rebound in product orders, possibly led by AI enthusiasm. In the week ahead Some high-profile companies continue to report quarterly earnings next week. Zoom Video Communications will report on Monday, Lowe's Companies on Tuesday and Nvidia will do so on Wednesday. Software company Inuit will report on Thursday. Next week will also shed light on the health of the real estate market, with reports of existing home sales for the month of July coming out on Monday and the new home sales report on Wednesday. Investors should keep an eye out for Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday morning, which will likely affect the course of the market that day. Benzinga is a financial news and data company headquartered in Detroit.