US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-S&P 500 on pace to confirm bear market, falls 20% from record close

May 20 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX fell 20% from its Jan. 3 record closing high on Friday, as investors sold stocks on worries over whether the Federal Reserve will be able to tame inflation without triggering a recession.

If the index closes below 20% or more, it would confirm a bear market for the first time since the 2020 Wall Street plunge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At 12:43 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 430.55 points, or 1.38%, at 30,822.58, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 67.22 points, or 1.72%, at 3,833.57, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 274.78 points, or 2.41%, at 11,113.72.

(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

((Devik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2062; ;))

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