Stocks fell broadly in afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday and pared weekly gains for the major indexes.
The market had edged higher in the early going after a surprisingly good retail sales report for August, but then quickly turned lower.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 1:26 p.m. Nearly every sector within the benchmark index lost ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 130 points, or 0.4%, to 34,684 and the Nasdaq fell 0.3%.
Technology companies were the biggest drag on the market, along with communications and health care stocks. Nvidia fell 1.3% and Facebook fell 0.8%.
Oil prices fell 0.2% and natural gas prices fell 3%. The falling prices helped push Exxon Mobil 1.1% lower and Cabot Oil & Gas 3.4% lower.
Losses for banks were tempered by rising bond yields that help them charge more lucrative interest on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.33% from 1.30% late Wednesday.
A mix of retailers gained ground following the retail sales report, which showed a surprise jump in August. Gap rose 2.8% and Bath & Body Works rose 1.7%.
Investors were given another mixed bag of economic data to review as they try to gauge the economic recovery’s path ahead amid the virus pandemic, inflation and other factors.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.7% last month. Economists had expected a 0.85% contraction over concerns that people would have pulled back on spending as the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 prompts consumers to pull back on shopping.
Consumers simply shifted spending to more online purchases and away from businesses that are still struggling to recover from the pandemic, including restaurants and other business that rely on in-person spending.
Wall Street is also reviewing a disappointing report showing that weekly unemployment claims rose more than expected.
Markets have been choppy as investors shift money between various sectors while they parse any data coming out that could give more clues and signals on the potential direction of the economy and how the Federal Reserve will react.
The central bank will meet next week, and investors will listen closely for any comments about when and how much it will taper support for low interest rates that have helped fuel gains for stocks throughout the year.
“What you’re seeing over the last month has been hesitation to really commit,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “Until we have more clarity from the Fed, the pattern will continue.”
