Final-hour rally yanks Wall Street from maw of bear market

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and STAN CHOE
AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rumbled to the edge of a bear market Friday after another drop for stocks briefly sent the S&P 500 more than 20% below its peak set early this year. The S&P 500 was down as much as 2.3% for the day before a furious last hour of buying sent it to a tiny gain. It finished 18.7% below its record. The tumultuous trading capped a seventh straight losing week, its longest such streak since 2001. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China’s economy are all punishing stocks and raising fears about a possible U.S. recession.