S&P 500 slides on Thursday, heads for longest losing streak since October: Live updates

The S&P 500 slipped for a fifth straight day on Thursday, placing the benchmark on track for its longest losing streak this year.

The broad index lost 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 58 points, or 0.1%, as the blue-chip index traded near its flatline for 2024.

Each day this week, the S&P 500 rallied into the green at one point during the trading session, only to give up that gain before the close.

With those declines, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each flirted with their fifth straight down day. For the S&P 500, it would be the first losing streak of that length since October, just before the current bull market began. It would be the longest for the Nasdaq since January.

The major indexes are also all poised to see losses this week. The S&P 500 has slid more than 2% so far in the week, while the Dow dipped 0.6% for the same period.

The Nasdaq has tumbled more than 3% this week as technology shares struggled. That puts the index on pace for its fourth straight down week, which would mark the longest negative streak since December 2022.

The moves come during what has been a difficult second quarter on Wall Street, with all three indexes down in April. That pullback has been driven in part by growing concerns around the path of inflation and monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.

“This has been one of the most widely advertised pullbacks that we’ve had,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial. Now, “what we’re paying attention to … is whether or not we are going to see lower lows.”

Investors have followed the latest corporate earnings releases in what’s shaping up to be a positive start for the season. More than 12% of S&P 500-listed companies have now reported, according to FactSet. Of those that have already posted results, 73% have surpassed Wall Street expectations for their individual performances.