US stocks close mixed after the S&P 500 slides into a bear market amid recession fears

• US stocks closed mixed Friday in a volatile session that saw the S&P 500 hit bear-market territory.
• The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended weekly losing streaks.

US stocks erased steep intraday losses to close mixed Friday in a volatile session that saw the S&P 500 hit bear-market territory.

Early Friday, US stocks rose after China's central bank unleashed additional stimulus in the form of a rate cut, but Wall Street's gains were short-lived as recession fears weighed. The S&P 500 eventually joined the Nasdaq Composite in a bear market as each index this year has logged declines of more than 20% from recent highs.

The S&P 500 also cemented a seventh straight weekly loss, its longest such slump since 2001. The Dow Jones Industrial Average with eight weeks of declines marked the longest run of losses since 1923, according to Bloomberg. Investors this week struggled to get past disappointing financial updates from retailers including heavyweights Walmart and Target that raised alarm bells about consumer spending in an economy that depends heavily on shoppers.

Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Friday:

• S&P 500: 3,901.36, up 0.01%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 31,261.90, up 0.03% (8.77 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,354.62, down 0.30%

"Another week of incredible market volatility makes it increasingly clear that a 'buy the dips' strategy is somewhat treacherous," David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth US, said in a Friday note.

"Real-time economic data for May is beginning to show warning signs that the economy is slowing down. The markets are processing the rising risk of recession, which is one reason the equity market is fragile," he said. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates to tame hot inflation that hit 8.3% in April.

The Fed next week will focus on its preferred inflation gauge, the PCE, with that report due on May 27. "If the core inflation number is 0.3% or lower, that will be good news. If it is more, that will be problematic for the market," said Donabedian.

Around the markets, billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller revealed a new bet against the S&P 500 and pushed into energy stocks last quarter.

Stablecoin tether has added more than $250 million in non-US government debt to its reserves. Elsewhere, Roku has overtaken Tesla as the top holding in Ark Invest's flagship fund during a selloff in tech stocks.

Oil prices edged up. West Texas Intermediate crude picked up 0.4% at $112.70 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.1% to $112.63.

Gold turned lower, slipping 10 cents to $1,841.10 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 7 basis points to 2.78%.

Bitcoin slumped 4.1% to $28,965.14.