U.S. stocks pull back as investors react to higher bond yields, data deluge
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U.S. stocks pulled back on Thursday as investors reacted to the ongoing inversion in the Treasury yield curve, along with a host of economic data and a tentative deal to avoid a nationwide railway strike.
What’s happening
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.13% was off 43 points, or 0.1%, to 31,100.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.80% fell 25 points, or 0.7%, to 3,920.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.32% declined 115 points , or 1%, to 11,601.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30 points, or 0.1%, to 31135, the S&P 500 increased 13 points, or 0.34%, to 3946, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 86 points, or 0.74%, to 11720.What’s driving markets
The White House announced that a deal to avert a railway strike set for midnight was reached. The stocks of railroad operators including Union Pacific UNP, 2.20%Corp. , and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited CP, -0.34% rose in response, helping to lift the Dow Transportation Average DJT, 0.06%, which was up 0.1% in recent trade.Wall Street had fretted such a strike could exacerbate inflation at a time when consumer prices already were rising at a clip of 8.3% year-over-year in August.
In U.S. data Thursday retail sales rose 0.3% in August as Americans spent more on new cars and trucks and went out to eat more, suggesting the economy grew at at a steady pace toward the end of the summer.
Meanwhile new jobless benefit claims fell by 5,000 to 213,000 in the week ended Sept. 10, the Labor Department said, suggesting the labor market remains healthy.