Stock market today: Wall Street stumbles in mixed trading as Big Tech stocks drop again
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street slipped in mixed trading Thursday as the threat of high interest rates continues to dog Big Tech stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 14.34, or 0.3%, to 4,451.14 for its third straight loss. The Nasdaq composite was hit particularly hard by the drop for tech stocks, and it sank 123.64, or 0.9%, to 13,748.83.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better than the rest of the market because it has less of an emphasis on tech, and it rose 57.54 points, or 0.2%, to 34,500.73.
Stocks felt pressure from the bond market, where yields rose earlier in the week after a report showed stronger growth for U.S. services industries last month than economists expected. Yields remained high after a report on Thursday said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected.
While such reports are encouraging for the economy, indicating a long-predicted recession is not near, they could also keep conditions humming strongly enough to push upward on inflation.
The Federal Reserve has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of slowing the economy enough to drive inflation back down to its 2% target. It’s come close, and inflation has cooled from its peak above 9% last summer. But the worry is that the last percentage point of improvement may be the toughest for the Fed.
“Yes, the economy has slowed and inflation has cooled, but employment continues to be a thorn in the side of the Fed, which has made softening the jobs market the cornerstone of its inflation battle,” said Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office.
High interest rates drag down on prices for every kind of stock. But they tend to most hurt stocks of technology companies...