By Dan Strumpf And Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks retreated, giving back some of the prior day's
gains, as investors weighed mixed readings on the U.S. economy.
Stocks have bobbed higher and lower this week around their
all-time highs, as investors weigh the economic outlook for the
remainder of the year and the timeline for rate hikes by the
Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 157 points, or 0.9%, to
17053, handing back the bulk of Wednesday's rally. The S&P 500
declined 22 points, or 0.9%, to 1979.
The Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 69 points, or 1.5%, to
4487, pulled lower by Apple Inc. after a glitch forced the company
to pull an update to its latest iPhone, iPad and iPod software.
"It's just a lot of movement [in the stock market] on little
bits and pieces of information one way or the other," said Keith
Bliss, senior vice president at brokerage Cuttone & Co. "I
wouldn't be surprised if we sit in this little trading range
here...'til the end of October."
The S&P 500 has gained 7.7% so far this year, though it is
faltered this week, off 1%, after hitting an all-time high of
2011.36 last Thursday.
Before the opening bell, the Labor Department said U.S. jobless
claims rose by 12,000 to 293,000 in the latest week, the Labor
Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street
Journal had forecast claims to come in at 296,000.
New orders for big-ticket manufactured items fell 18.2% in
August from the prior month, outpacing the 17.5% expected decline.
At 11 a.m. EDT, investors will get a reading on regional
manufacturing activity from the Kansas City Federal Reserve.
Investors have been keeping a close eye on economic reports as
they weigh the outlook for interest-rate increases by the Federal
Reserve. The central bank is widely expected to raise rates next
year after winding down its bond-buying program in October.
On Friday, investors will get a third update on second-quarter
U.S. gross domestic product, expected to be revised upward to a
growth rate of 4.6% from a prior assessment of 4.2%.
Stocks rallied Wednesday, with gains in the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq Composite halting three straight sessions of losses.
Steven Wieting, global chief investment strategist at Citi
Private Bank, said he sees room for further gains this year, but
those gains will be tempered.
"There is uncertainty about the strength of the recovery, the
trend in inflation, the global environment...and how well we will
absorb all of this with higher yields," he said.
Overseas action was dominated by further gains in the dollar.
The dollar traded at its highest level against the yen since 2008,
boosting Japanese stocks. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.3% to
16,374.14, turning positive for the year.
The divergence between the prospect for tighter monetary policy
in the U.S. and further easing in the eurozone continued to weigh
on the euro, which fell to $1.2724 from $1.2780 late Wednesday. The
Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4%. European Central Bank President
Mario Draghi reiterated Wednesday that the central bank could use
more unconventional measures if needed to combat low inflation.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely
with its price, fell to 2.526%, according to FactSet.
Among early stock movers, shares of Apple retreated 2.7%. Boeing
Co. shares fell 0.9% after Japan's transportation safety authority
said in a report Thursday it couldn't identify the precise cause of
a battery malfunction that prompted an emergency grounding of a
Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Japan last year.
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings said Thursday it will
acquire LipoScience for $85.3 million, in a bid to expand its
offering of personalized diagnostic tests. LipoScience's shares
surged 63% to $5.22 in premarket trading. LabCorp shares fell
1.1%.
In commodity markets, crude-oil futures rose 0.2% to $92.95 a
barrel. Gold futures shed 0.5% to $1,212.70 an ounce.
Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com and Saumya
Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com