How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 8/22/2024

Stocks closed lower in the run-up to Wall Street’s main event for the week, a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell coming on Friday.

The S&P 500 lost 0.9% Thursday for its worst day in a rally that’s been going for more than two weeks.

The Dow dropped 177 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%.

Stocks fell as Treasury yields cranked up the pressure in the bond market following some mixed data on the U.S. economy, which has been slowing under the weight of high interest rates meant to get inflation under control.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 fell 50.21 points, or 0.9%, to 5,570.64.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 177.71 points, or 0.4%, to 40,712.78.

The Nasdaq composite fell 299.63 points, or 1.7%, to 17,619.35.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 20.53 points, or 0.9%, to 2,150.03.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 16.39 points, or 0.3%.

The Dow is up 53.02 points, or 0.1%.

The Nasdaq is down 12.37 points, or 0.1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 8.11 points, or 0.4%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 800.81 points, or 16.8%.

The Dow is up 3,023.24 points, or 8%.

The Nasdaq is up 2,608.00 points, or 17.4%.

The Russell 2000 is up 122.96 points, or 6.1%.