S&P 500 Enters Bear Market as Intraday Rebound Runs Out of Steam

© Reuters

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 dipped into bear-market territory Friday, after an earlier rebound ran out of steam as ongoing worries about an inflation-led dent to growth offset fresh support from China to support its economy.

The S&P 500 fell 2.30%, taking losses from its recent peak to 20% into bear-market territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.9%, or 600 points, the Nasdaq fell 3%

Consumer discretionary led the sea of red on Wall Street after quarterly results from corporates continue to flag the impact of inflation.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) plunged more than 23% after first-quarter results fell short of Wall Street estimates, and the off-price retailer cut its guidance amid pressure from higher transportation and labor costs.

The weaker results come as the other retailers including Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) also stoked worries about the impact of inflation.

Deere (NYSE:DE), meanwhile, reported quarterly results that missed on the top line, and highlighted the impact of inflation and supply chain issues ahead, sending its shares more than 13% lower.

Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) bucked the trend, rising more than 3% after the footwear retailer reported better-than-expected profit that helped overshadow softer revenue and same-store sales.

The ongoing worries about inflation offset early-day optimism after China’s move to cut a key lending benchmark to support its economy, which has been impacted by recent lockdown measures in Shanghai and elsewhere, eased fears about slowing global growth.

“Investors appear more optimistic this morning after a volatile week as China takes its latest step to bolster the country’s economy,” Stifel said in a note earlier on Friday.

Technology gave up early-day gains to add fuel to the selloff, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) leading the selloff in big tech.