How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 8/2/2023

Wall Street tumbled to its worst day in months as its torrid rally that critics called overdone lost more momentum.

The S&P 500 fell 1.4% Wednesday for its sharpest drop since April. It was the index’s second straight loss after hitting a 16-month high last week. The Dow lost 1%, and the Nasdaq sank 2.2%.

Yields were mixed after Fitch cut the U.S. government’s credit rating. The downgrade strikes at the core of the financial system, but it’s so far caused less drama than a similar cut in 2011. The big concerns remain corporate profits and the economy. Reports on those were mixed.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 fell 63.34 points, or 1.4%, to 4,513.39.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 348.16 points, or 1%, to 35,282.52.

The Nasdaq composite fell 310.47 points, or 2.2%, to 13,973.45.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 27.33 points, or 1.4%, to 1,966.83.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is down 68.84 points, or 1.5%.

The Dow is down 176.77 points, or 0.5%.

The Nasdaq is down 343.21 points, or 2.4%.

The Russell 2000 is down 14.70 points, or 0.7%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 673.89 points, or 17.6%.

The Dow is up 2,135.27 points, or 6.4%.

The Nasdaq is up 3,506.96 points, or 33.5%.

The Russell 2000 is up 205.59 points, or 11.7%.