American stock indices fell at the opening of trading on April 5 after comments by US Federal Reserve Board member Lael Brainard about the upcoming aggressive tightening of monetary policy by the regulator.

The S&P 500 index fell 2.57% to 4507.57 points, while the NASDAQ 100 tech index fell more than 3% at the moment, according to trading data.

“Reducing inflation is of paramount importance. Accordingly, the committee will continue to tighten monetary policy by raising interest rates and by reducing the balance sheet at a rapid pace already at the May meeting,” Brainard said Tuesday at the Fed’s conference in Minneapolis.

Brainard said the regulator will be cutting nearly $9 trillion in assets much faster than it did in 2017-2019. She also noted that there are risks of rising inflation due to the aggravation of the conflict in Ukraine.

The Fed is aiming to bring inflation down to 2%. Annual inflation in the United States in February 2022 reached 7.9%, follows from the published data of the country's Department of Labor. This is the maximum value since January 1982, that is, more than 40 years. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% last month 

The Fed's actions have already tightened financial conditions, Brainard said, with U.S. mortgage rates up a percentage point to a nine-month high. Despite geopolitical developments that may pose certain risks, the US economy has growth potential and a strong labor market.