Stocks close lower on Wall Street as rally momentum cools

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA

A sell-off connected Wall Street near stocks broadly little Thursday, giving backmost immoderate of the market’s gains from a three-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, with much than three-fourths of the companies successful the benchmark scale closing lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.7%, portion the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped little than 1 point.

Small-company stocks fell much than the remainder of the market, sending the Russell 2000 scale 2.3% lower. Roughly 3 stocks fell for each 1 that roseate connected the New York Stock Exchange.

The pullback follows a 3.6% summation for the S&P 500 scale implicit the archetypal 3 days of the week, mostly successful effect to easing worries astir the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. That marked an about-face for stocks pursuing 2 weeks of losses implicit concerns astir rising ostentation and the coronavirus perchance crimping economical growth.

Investors welcomed reports this week of aboriginal indications suggesting the omicron variant whitethorn beryllium little unsafe than delta, including connection from Pfizer that its laboratory tests suggest the drugmaker’s COVID-19 boosters supply extortion against the caller strain.

“Today, due to the fact that of that, folks are taking a small spot of a breather to gauge different accusation that could suggest a much sustained absorption for the market, peculiarly connected the economical information front,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments.

The S&P 500 fell 33.76 points to 4,667.45. The Dow slipped little than 1 constituent to 35,754.69. The Nasdaq fell 269.62 points to 15,517.37. The Russell 2000 gave up 51.50 points to 2,220.71. Every large scale is inactive connected way for a play gain.

Technology stocks and a premix of retailers and different companies that trust connected nonstop user spending weighed connected the S&P 500 the most. Chipmaker Nvidia fell 3.4%, portion Tesla slid 6.1% for the biggest driblet successful the index.

Travel-related companies slipped aft spending the past fewer days gaining ground. Carnival fell 1.7% and United Airlines fell 1.8%.

Bond yields fell slightly. The output connected the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.49% from 1.51% precocious Wednesday.

Energy futures closed mostly lower. The terms of U.S. crude lipid fell 2% and helped propulsion vigor stocks lower. Devon Energy fell 4%.

Health attraction companies rose. CVS Health climbed 4.5% aft raising its dividend and issuing a coagulated forecast. Pfizer, which has been touting the imaginable benefits of a vaccine booster against the latest COVID-19 variant, roseate 1.3%.

Investors received an encouraging update connected occupation market’s recovery. The Labor Department reported that the fig of Americans applying for unemployment benefits plunged past week to the lowest level successful 52 years.

The employment market’s betterment has been a cardinal absorption for Wall Street portion it gauges the spot of the system arsenic it moves past the microorganism pandemic. Rising ostentation has been different focus, and investors volition get an update Friday erstwhile the Labor Department releases its Consumer Price Index for November.

The latest ostentation information comes up of the Federal Reserve’s two-day gathering of policymakers adjacent week. Rising ostentation has prompted the cardinal slope to velocity up the gait astatine which it trims its enslaved purchases, which person helped support involvement rates low. That has raised concerns that the Fed volition rise its benchmark involvement rates adjacent twelvemonth sooner than expected.