jtrent238 test blog: Daily Business Briefing: Stocks slide at the end of a rough week for investors.

Sept. 16, 2022, 3:00 p.m. Eastern time

Good afternoon. Concerns over the global economy are weighing on investors.

Stocks continued their tumble after fresh inflation data earlier this week spooked investors, reigniting fears that the United States could slip into a severe downturn. The S&P 500 index was set to close out the week more than 5 percent lower than where it started, after falling 1.4 percent by Friday afternoon.

In Britain, financial markets have been grumbling with an unease about the country's economic outlook. High inflation and low economic growth are expected to continue, joined by vast borrowing to finance the new government's plan to freeze energy bills while it cuts taxes.

The Russian central bank cut its interest rate again, continuing to move in the opposite direction to most of the world's major central banks, as policymakers try to buttress the economy against the impact of international sanctions.

Executives from bellwethers like FedEx and General Electric warned of hits to corporate profits. FedEx said that it expected to report that profits shrank in its latest quarter, a decrease the shipping giant attributed to a broader slowdown of the global economy.

Here's what is happening today