NEW YORK (AP) — Another roller-coaster day left Wall Street essentially where it began on Wednesday, after stocks veered on worries about how badly a slowing economy will hit corporate profits.
The S&P 500 finished virtually unchanged, but only after it tumbled to a morning loss of 1.7% and then roared all the way back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased a 460-point loss to finish up 9 points. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2% after coming back from a 2.3% drop.
Such big swings have been common on Wall Street as markets work through a couple competing big ideas. On one hand, worries are rising about weakening profits and an economy bending under the weight of hikes to interest rates by the Federal Reserve. On the other are hopes that the economy can avoid a severe recession and that cooling inflation will get the Fed to take it easier on rates.
