NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2020/05/27: Wall Street sign in front of New York Stock Exchange (Photo by John Nacion/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) NEW YORK - The stock market clawed back from a midday drop Friday after coming to the edge of its first bear market since the beginning of the pandemic.
The S&P 500 ended 18.6% below the record high it set in early January. A 20% decline would have been considered the beginning of a bear market.
The benchmark index, the heart of many retirement accounts, came back from a loss of 2.3% to end just barely in the green. RELATED: Inflation gave most Americans a 2.6% wage cut in AprilThe stock market remains stuck in a slump amid worries about how inflation is squeezing businesses and consumers.
Investors are also concerned about the Federal Reserve's plan to aggressively raise interest rates and whether that will help temper inflation's impact or crimp growth too much and send the economy into a recession.Concerns about inflation have been growing heavier with Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushing energy and some key food commodity prices higher.