Wall Street ends mixed after the penalty week

May 20 (Reuters) – Wall Street ended mixed Friday after a volatile session that saw the Tesla decline and other growth stocks also lose ground.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded their seventh week of losses in a row, their longest losing streak since the end of the dotcom bubble in 2001.

The Dow (.DJI) suffered its eighth weekly decline in a row, the longest since 1932 during the Great Depression.

Concerns about rising inflation and rising interest rates have hit the US stock market this year, with danger signals from Walmart Inc (WMT.N) and other traders this week raising fears of the economy.

The S&P 500 spent most of the session in negative territory and was at some point down just over 20% from the record high on January 3, before ending down 18% from this level and flat for the day.

Closing down 20% from that record level will confirm that the S&P 500 has been in a bear market since it reached its highest level in January, according to a common definition.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) was last down by about 27% from the record high in November 2021.

Tesla (TSLA.O) weighed heavily on the S&P 500, falling 6.4% after CEO Elon Musk condemned as “completely untrue” allegations in a news report that he sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private plane in 2016. read more

Other megacap shares also fell, with Apple Google owner Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) down 1.3% and Nvidia (NVDA.O) losing 2.5%.

The shares of Deere & Co (DE.N) fell by 14% after the heavy equipment manufacturer had lower quarterly revenues. read more

Pfizer (PFE.N) rose 3.6%, helping the S&P 500 avoid losses for the day.

Recent disappointing forecasts from major retailers Walmart, Kohl’s Corp (KSS.N) and Target Inc (TGT.N) have rattled market sentiment, adding evidence that rising prices have begun to hurt the purchasing power of US consumers.

On Friday, Ross Stores (ROST.O) fell 22.5% after discount clothing retailer cut its 2022 sales and profit forecasts, while Vans brand owner VF Corp (VFC.N) gained 6.1% on strong revenue prospects for 2023

Traders price in 50 basis point interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve in June and July.

The S&P 500 rose 0.01% to end the session at 3,901.36 points.

The Nasdaq fell 0.30% to 11,354.62 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03% to 31,261.90 points.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 3.0%, the Dow lost 2.9% and the Nasdaq fell 3.8%.

About two-thirds of S&P 500 shares are down 20% or more from their 52-week highs.

Volume on US stock exchanges was 13.0 billion shares, compared to an average of 13.5 billion in the last 20 trading days.

Falling issues were more than those departing on the NYSE with a ratio of 1.16 to 1; on the Nasdaq favored a ratio of 1.24 to 1 declines.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week highs and 48 new sediments; The Nasdaq Composite recorded 11 new highs and 353 new lows.

Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru, and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta, Arun Koyyur and Grant McCool

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.