The stock market clawed back from a midday drop Friday after coming to the edge of its first bear market since the beginning of the pandemic.

       The S&P 500 ended 18.7% below the record high it set in early January. A 20% decline would have been considered the beginning of a bear market. The benchmark index, the heart of many retirement accounts, came back from a loss of 2.3% to end just barely in the green.

       Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China’s economy have been worrying investors. The Dow erased a 600-point drop.

       On Friday:

       The S&P 500 rose 0.57 points, or less than 0.1%, to 3,901.36.

       The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.77 points, or less than 0.1%, to 31,261.90.

       The Nasdaq fell 33.88 points, or 0.3%, to 11,354.62.

       The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.96 points, or 0.2%, to 1,773.27.

       For the week:

       The S&P 500 is down 122.53 points, or 3%.

       The Dow is down 943.76 points, or 2.9%.

       The Nasdaq is down 450.38 points, or 3.8%.

       The Russell 2000 is down 19.40 points, or 1.1%.

       For the year:

       The S&P 500 is down 864.82 points, or 18.1%.

       The Dow is down 5,076.40 points, or 14%.

       The Nasdaq is down 4,290.35 points, or 27.4%.

       The Russell 2000 is down 472.05 points, or 21%.