Stock Market Edges Closer to Bear Market

Stocks ended another volatile day lower on Wall Street Thursday, bringing the market closer to its first bear market since the beginning of the pandemic, per the AP. The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds, fell 22 points, or 0.5%, to 3,900. The Dow fell 236 points, or 0.7%, to 31,253, and the Nasdaq fell 29 points, or 0.2%, to 11,388. The S&P is now down 18.7% from the record high it set early this year, nearly at the 20% threshold that defines a bear market.

Investors are worrying that the soaring inflation that’s hurting people shopping for groceries and filling their cars up is also walloping profits at US companies. Target fell again, a day after losing a quarter of its value on a surprisingly large drop in earnings. Wall Street is also worried about the Federal Reserve's plan to fight the highest inflation in four decades. The Fed is raising interest rates aggressively and investors are concerned that the central bank could cause a recession if it raises rates too high or too quickly. The pile of concerns on Wall Street has made for very choppy trading and big swings between gains and losses within any given day.

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