Dow drops 500 points on September’s final day, S&P 500 suffers worst month since March 2020

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 546.80 points, or 1.59%, to close at 33,843.92. The broader S&P 500 was down 1.19% to 4,307.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to 14,448.58.

The weakness for the market came on the final day of what has been a rough month for equities, as rising rates, inflation fears and concerns about the Chinese property market have roiled stocks. The S&P 500 finished September down 4.8% for its worst month since March 2020, when the pandemic caused a major market sell-off. The index also closed 5% below its record high for the first time this year.

The Nasdaq fell 5.3% for its worst month since March 2020, while the Dow dropped 4.3% for its worst month in 2021.

“September lived up to its reputation and dented stock portfolio returns, but not too badly,” wrote Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research. “There has been a lot of concern that higher wages, higher energy prices, and higher transportation costs will weigh on earnings for the remainder of this year and into 2022. It’s certainly something we’ll be tracking. But so far, analysts remain relatively sanguine.”