Stocks Retreat in February Amid High Volatility

​Major stock indices declined in February, as market volatility increased. The S&P 500 snapped a 10-month winning streak by declining 3.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 also declined near 4.0%, while the NASDAQ, faring better than the others, declined 1.9%. February marked the worst performance for both the Dow and the S&P 500 in two years.

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In a wild ride, the Dow fell more than 3,200 points, or 12%, in just two weeks, recovered nearly three-fourths of those losses, and declined another 680 points in the final two days of the month.
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Fears of an overheating market and strong inflation expectations are believed to be the culprit of the month’s market swings.