Stocks fall on Wall Street as turbulent trading persists

Stocks are mostly lower in afternoon trading on Wall Street Wednesday as worries about inflation, rising interest rates and a potential recession weigh on the broader market.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% as of 1:37 p.m. Eastern after having been up 0.5% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83 points, or 0.3%., to 30,883, while the Nasdaq edged up less than 0.1%.

Small company stocks slumped in a sign that investors are worried about economic growth. The Russell 2000 shed 1.1%.

Energy stocks had some of the sharpest declines as oil prices fell. Hess dropped 2.8%.

Technology and health care stocks held up better than the rest of the market. Cisco Systems rose 1.2% and Pfizer added 1.1%.

Bond yields rose significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set mortgage rates, jumped to 2.90% from 2.81% late Tuesday.

Delivery service DoorDash slid 7.6% following Amazon's announcement of a deal with rival delivery service Grubhub.

Major indexes have been swinging between sharp losses and gains on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis. The broader market, though, is still mired in a deep slump that has dragged the S&P 500 into a bear market, over 20% below its most recent high.

Wall Street's key concern centers around the Federal Reserve's effort to rein in inflation, and the risk its plan could send the economy into a recession.

Inflation has squeezed businesses and consumers throughout the year. Its grip tightened after Russia invaded Ukraine in February and as China locked down several key cities to contain rising COVID-19 cases, which worsened supply chain problems.