Stocks fell in choppy trading Friday as Wall Street closed out a terrible week, month and quarter that brought the S&P 500 to a new 2022 low.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 29,000 for the first time since November 2020. The index fell 500.10 points, or 1.71%, to 28,725.51. The Nasdaq Composite was 1.51% lower, ending the day at 10,575.62.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was down 1.51% on Friday, falling to 3,585.62. The index closed out its worst month since March 2020.
Friday marked the last day of the month and the third quarter. For September, the Dow tumbled 8.8%, while the S&P 500 fell 9.3%. The Nasdaq lost 10.5%.
“It’s been a tough, tough environment for equities and fixed income both, something that we had expected given our views around the Fed keeping interest rates higher for longer and markets are starting to come around to that view,” said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments.
“In the near term, we are likely to have continued market volatility with a downward bias as we head into earnings season,” Hill said.
An inflation report closely watched by the Federal Reserve released Friday showed that prices continued to increase at a rapid pace.
Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard on Friday underscored the need to bring down inflation, saying the central bank is “committed to avoiding pulling back prematurely” on restrictive monetary policy.
Nike fell sharply after reporting that sales increased, but supply chain and inventory issues hampered the bottom line in its fiscal first quarter. The stock closed down 12.8%.
Quarter to date, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq wrapped up their first three-quarter losing streak since 2009, losing 5.3% and 4.1%, respectively. The Dow dropped 6.7% in the third quarter and saw a third-straight losing quarter for the first time since 2015.
For the week, the major averages posted sharp losses. The S&P 500 slid 2.9% for the week. The Dow tumbled 2.9%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.7%.
