The S&P 500 and NASDAQ finished lower on Thursday after all three of the major averages posted three straight days of gains. Traders took a pause from the rebound rally and turned their attention to inflation data due out on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed to within 0.06 points of breakeven by the closing bell to 35,754.69
The S&P 500 index sagged 33.76 points to 4,667.45.
The NASDAQ tumbled 268.62 points, or 1.7%, at 15,650.87. All three indexes were on target for a winning week, however.
Stocks gave back some of their gains in recent days, with the moves higher spurred by the belief that the omicron variant of COVID looks less severe than earlier forms.
Several travel-related stocks, which led the market higher throughout the week, were lower Thursday. Shares of Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line dipped about 1.6%. United Airlines was 1.7% lower.
Expedia lost 1.4%, and Booking Holdings docked 1.7%. Separately, shares of American Airlines fell 0.4% after the company said it’s reducing its schedule due to the fact that it’s still awaiting Boeing Dreamliner deliveries. Shares of Boeing slid 1.6%.
Rent The Runway shares tumbled by 12% after reporting swelling losses and lower than pre-pandemic subscriber growth for its most recent quarter. Electric vehicle maker Lucid saw shares fall 4% after announcing a $1.75 billion offering of convertible senior notes.
Still, there were some positive moves. CVS gained 4.5% after it issued upbeat guidance ahead of its Investor Day. Home retailer RH rose about 5.4% after it reported blowout earnings and lifted the low end of its revenue outlook.
The moves come a day ahead of important inflation news as the U.S. Labor Department on Friday releases the consumer price index for November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the year-over-year growth rate to be 6.7%. If that is the case, it will mark the biggest move since June 1982.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000, compared to the 211,000 estimated by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.49% from Wednesday’s 1.53%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.87 to $70.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hurtled lower $9.30 to $1,776.20 U.S. an ounce.