Stocks give up a rally and end lower as volatility continues

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers

Stocks gave up an early rally and closed lower on Wall Street Thursday as a streak of market volatility continued. The S&P 500 index fell 0.5% after being up as much as 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was barely lower and the Nasdaq fell 1.4%. Markets are still processing the latest indications from the Federal Reserve a day earlier that the central bank is increasingly concerned about inflation and plans to raise interest rates and take other steps soon to fight it. Investors were encouraged to see that the U.S. economy grew last year at the fastest pace since 1984.