NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stock indexes drifted lower following some potentially discouraging data on the economy. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Thursday, its third loss in the last four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.7% from its record set the day before. A report earlier in the morning said more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than forecast. A separate update showed that inflation at the wholesale level was hotter last month than economists expected. Adobe sank after issuing weaker-than-expected financial forecasts. Treasury yields rose in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stock indexes are drifting lower Thursday following some potentially on .
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, potentially on track for its third loss in the last four days. That would count as a stumble amid a big rally that鈥檚 carried the index toward the close of one of its .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154 points, or 0.4%, as of 1:45 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% from its record set the day before.
A report earlier in the morning said more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. A separate update, meanwhile, showed that inflation at the wholesale level, before it reaches U.S. consumers, was hotter last month than economists expected.
Neither report points to imminent disaster, but they tug at one of the hopes that鈥檚 driven the S&P 500 to : Inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates, while the economy is remaining solid enough to stay out of a recession.
Of the two reports, the weaker update on the job market may be the bigger deal for the market, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. A surge in egg prices may have been behind the worse-than-expected inflation numbers.
鈥淥ne week doesn鈥檛 negate what has been a relatively steady stream of solid labor market data, but the Fed is primed to be sensitive to any signs of a softening jobs picture,鈥� he said.
Traders see it as a near-certainty that the Fed will cut its main interest rate at its meeting next week. If they鈥檙e correct, it would be a third straight cut by the Fed after it from a two-decade high. It鈥檚 hoping to support a after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target.
Lower rates would give a boost to the economy and to prices for investments, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation.
A cut next week would have the Fed following other central banks, which eased rates on Thursday. The by a quarter of a percentage point, as many investors expected, and the Swiss National Bank cut its policy rate by a steeper half of a percentage point.
Following its decision, Switzerland鈥檚 central bank pointed to uncertainty about how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 victory will affect economic policies, as well as about where politics in Europe is heading.
Trump has talked up that could upend global trade. He at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday to chants of 鈥淯SA.鈥�
On Wall Street, Adobe fell 13.5% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company gave forecasts for profit and revenue in its upcoming fiscal year that fell a bit shy of analysts鈥�.
Warner Bros. Discovery soared 15.6% after unveiling a new corporate structure that separates its streaming business and film studios from its traditional television business. CEO David Zaslav said the move "enhances our flexibility with potential future strategic opportunities,鈥� raising speculation about a spinoff or sale.
Kroger rose 2.5% after saying it would get back to buying back its own stock now that its . Kroger鈥檚 board approved a program to repurchase up to $7.5 billion of its stock, replacing an existing $1 billion authorization.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes held relatively steady following the European Central Bank鈥檚 cut to rates.
Asian markets were stronger. Indexes rose 1.2% in Hong Kong and 0.8% in Shanghai as in Beijing to set economic plans and targets for the coming year.
South Korea鈥檚 Kospi rose 1.6% for its third straight gain of at least 1%, as it pulls back following where its president briefly declared martial law.
In the bond market, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.31% from 4.27% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.18% from 4.16%.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Stan Choe, The Associated Press
