Wall Street Performs Mixedly On Inflation Report

Stocks are having a mixed performance on Friday as traders looked to close out an awful week that brought the S&P 500 to a new 2022 low. The S&P 500 was up 0.55%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 52 points, or 0.18%, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.02% higher.

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.

Stocks sold off Thursday, with the Dow losing more than 1%, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each dropping more than 2%. Friday also marked the last day of the month and the third quarter.

For September, the S&P 500 and Dow are down more than 7% each through Thursday’s close. That would be the worst monthly performance for the Dow since March 2020 and the biggest one-month decline for the S&P 500 since June. The Nasdaq is headed for its biggest monthly loss since April, losing 9.1%.