The Dow Jones Industrials fell 143.07 points, to break for lunch Wednesday at 33,946.20, weighed down by shares of Chevron and Devon Energy, which slumped with oil prices.
The S&P 500 faded 13.06 points to 4,123.07.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 8.5 points to 11,968.60, boosted by shares of Airbnb, which surged 12% after beating earnings expectations. Gains in Tesla, Rivian and Lucid also helped lead the index higher.
January retail sales rose 3%, while economists polled by Dow Jones anticipated a 1.9% increase. The number signals that the U.S. economy is holding up despite increased rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell hard, raising yields to 3.81% from Tuesday’s 3.75%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumbered $1.47 to $77.59 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stepped back $18.70 to $1,846.70 U.S. an ounce.