Wall Street equities lost ground in mid-session trading on Friday following tough talk from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who warned of "pain" ahead for Americans in the battle against inflation.

While the major indices initially seemed to take the comments in stride, losses accelerated ahead of midday.

Around 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones had lost 1.7 percent to 32,740.

The S&P 500 fell 1.9 percent to 4,118, while the Nasdaq slid 2.4 percent to 12,333. (AFP)