The S&P 500 fell 1%, with three-quarters of the companies in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.1%. The indexes initially moved higher in choppy trading before settling into their latest losses.
The S&P 500 fell 48.03 points to 4,620.64. The index is now about 2% below its all-time high set last Friday and is up 23% so far this year. The Nasdaq slipped 10.75 points to 15,169.68. Both indexes have posted losses in three of the last four weeks.Small company stocks bucked the broader market slide. The Russell 2000 index picked up 21.48 points, or 1%, to 2,173.93.
Consumers have so far absorbed those price increases, but they are facing persistent pressure from rising prices and that could eventually prompt a pullback in spending. Any pullback in spending could then crimp economic growth.The job-gain narrative is competing with the inflation narrative in assessments of the economy, and the inflation narrative is winning.
Banks and energy companies took the heaviest losses as long-term bond yields mostly fell. Lenders rely on higher yields to charge more lucrative interest on loans. JPMorgan Chase fell 2.3%.Losses were broad throughout other sectors. A wide range of retailers, household goods makers and industrial firms also fell. Home Depot slid 2.9%, Procter & Gamble fell 2.3% and Caterpillar dropped 2.3%.Some travel-related stocks, including cruise line operators, rose. Royal Caribbean gained 5.