WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks recovered from an early pullback during trading on Thursday but moved back to the downside over the course of the session. With the downward move, the Dow closed lower for the sixth consecutive session.
The major averages fell to new lows for the session going into the close of trading. The Dow slid 234.44 points or 0.5 percent to 43,914.12, the Nasdaq declined 132.05 points or 0.7 percent to 19,902.84 and the S&P 500 fell 32.94 points or 0.5 percent to 6,051.25.
The weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on the strong performance seen on Wednesday, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed above 20,000 for the first time ever.
Some negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of November.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand climbed by 0.4 percent in November after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in October.
Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.2 percent, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth accelerated to 3.0 percent in November from an upwardly revised 2.6 percent in October.
The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to rise to 2.6 percent from the 2.4 percent originally reported for the previous month.
While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to lower interest rates next week, the data has raised some concerns about how quickly the central bank will cut rates early next year.
Sector News
Gold stocks pulled back sharply along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 3.8 percent after ending Wednesday's session at its best closing level in over a month.
Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Airline stocks also came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.5 percent.
Energy stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, while networking stocks showed a notable move to the upside on the day.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day little changed after the European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both crept up by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries extended the pullback seen over the past few sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.3 basis points to 4.324 percent.
Looking Ahead
A report on import and export prices may attract some attention on Friday, as traders look for additional clues about the outlook for inflation.
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