US stocks: Wall Street ends 2022 with biggest annual drop since 2008

The US stock market closed out the year lower on Friday, with the S&P 500 index posting its first yearly drop since 2018. The main reason for the drop was a combination of events, including the ongoing supply chain disruption that started in 2020, the spike in inflation, the tardiness of the Fed beginning its rate tightening program in the attempt to corral the inflation, geopolitical tensions including the Ukraine war, and China's surging Covid cases and uncertainties over Taiwan.