NEW YORK—Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday, deepening a slump for major indexes as persistently high inflation continues to weigh on the economy.
The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds, is coming off of its biggest drop in nearly two years. It fell another 0.4 percent and is down nearly 19 percent from the record high it set early this year. That’s just shy of the 20 percent point that defines a bear market. The last bear market happened just two years ago, following the outset of the virus pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 279 points, or 0.9 percent as of 10:02 a.m. Eastern and the Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent….