NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market clawed back from a midday drop Friday after coming to the edge of its first bear market since the beginning of the pandemic. The S&P 500 ended 18.6% below the record high it set in early January. A 20% decline would have been considered the beginning of a bear market. The benchmark index, the heart of many retirement accounts, came back from a loss of 2.3% to end just barely in the green. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China’s economy have been worrying investors. The Dow erased a 600-point drop.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling on Wall Street again on Friday and are headed for another week of declines following a massive pullback two days ago. The S&P 500 fell 1.7% and is now down 20% from the record high it reached in January. If the index closes at this level or lower it will have entered a bear market for the first time since early in the pandemic. The S&P 500, the basis for many index funds, is heading for its seventh weekly decline in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.4%. Bonds yields fell.