US stocks recovered from sharp early losses in Friday’s session but ended the week sharply lower as the August swoon continued on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) finished just above the flat line, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell slightly across from it. The Nasdaq Heavy Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.2% after three straight days of sharp losses.
Over the course of the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw losses of around 2%.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) fell slightly on Friday to around 4.25% but remained near recent highs.
The moves come as investors contemplate the possibility of interest rates staying higher for a longer period after minutes from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting showed that the central bank would not rule out further increases. The next clue to the Fed’s next move will come from Chairman Jay Powell, who is scheduled to deliver a speech next Friday at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
Also, investors looked at the ongoing economic woes in China, where embattled real estate developer Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy in a US court.