Stocks rise, still on pace for worst month since March 2020

By STAN CHOE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers

Stocks are rising Monday, trimming some of their worst monthly loss since the early days of the pandemic, as Wall Street closes a tumultuous January wracked by worries that imminent interest-rate hikes will make everything in markets more challenging. The S&P 500 was 2% higher in afternoon trading. But it’s still down 6.5% since setting a record exactly four weeks ago and is on track for a loss of 5.9% this month. That would be its worst since falling 12.5% in March 2020, when it hit bottom after the pandemic suddenly shut down the global economy.