How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 8/1/2024

U.S. stocks tumbled after weak data raised worries the Federal Reserve may have missed its window to cut interest rates before undercutting the economy’s growth.

The S&P 500 sank 1.4% Thursday after a report showed U.S. manufacturing activity is still shrinking. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 2.3%.

The action was even stronger in the bond market, where the yield on the 10-year Treasury sank below 4% after data showed more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Wall Street’s losses would have been worse if not for a strong profit report from Meta Platforms.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 fell 75.62 points, or 1.4%, to 5,446.68.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 494.82 points, or 1.2%, to 40,347.97.

The Nasdaq composite fell 405.25 points, or 2.3%, to 17,194.15.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 68.32 points, or 3%, to 2,186.16.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is down 12.42 points, or 0.2%.

The Dow is down 241.37 points, or 0.6%.

The Nasdaq is down 163.74 points, or 0.9%.

The Russell 2000 is down 73.91 points, or 3.3%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 676.85 points, or 14.2%.

The Dow is up 2,658.43 points, or 7.1%.

The Nasdaq is up 2,182.79 points, or 14.5%.

The Russell 2000 is up 159.09 points, or 7.8%.