S&P 500 sees worst month since March 2020

Stocks on Wall Street fell broadly Thursday, closing out September with their worst monthly loss since the beginning of the pandemic.

The S&P 500 ended the month 4.8 percent lower, its first monthly drop since January and the biggest since March 2020, when the viral outbreak rattled markets as it wreaked havoc with the global economy.

After climbing steadily for much of the year, the stock market became unsettled in recent weeks with the spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19, a sudden spike in long-term bond yields and word that the Federal Reserve may start to unwind its support for the economy.

The S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent Thursday, after selling accelerated in the final hour of trading. The benchmark index is still up 14.7 percent for the year.

The S&P 500 fell 51.92 points to 4,307.54, and is now 5.1 percent below its all-time high set on Sept. 2. The September swoon cut into the index’s gains for the third quarter, leaving it only 0.2 percent higher. That’s its smallest quarterly gain since the pandemic first stunned the economy and financial markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 546.80 points, or 1.6 percent, to 33,843.92, while the Nasdaq slid 63.86 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,448.58. Small company stocks also lost ground. The Russell 2000 index fell 20.94 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,204.37.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many kinds of loans, fell to 1.50 percent from 1.54 percent from late Wednesday. It was as low as 1.32 percent just over a week ago.