The Dow Jones Industrials faltered 173.73 points of breakeven to close Thursday at 33,631.14.
The S&P 500 index dumped 27.34 points to 4,379.41.
The NASDAQ index gave way 85.46 points at 13,574.22. The indexes snapped four-day winning streaks.
Shares of Walgreens gained 7% on Thursday after reporting narrower losses and progress in its cost-cutting plans. Still, the pharmaceutical company offered soft profit guidance and an earnings miss. Several companies, including JPMorgan, BlackRock and UnitedHealth Group, are slated to report earnings on Friday.
The consumer price index increased 0.4% on the month and 3.7% from a year ago, according to a U.S. Labor Department report released Thursday. Dow Jones estimates were 0.3% and 3.6%, respectively. The core inflation number, excluding food and energy prices, came out in line with economists’ expectations at an increase of 0.3% on the month and 4.1% on a 12-month basis. The data comes following a stronger-than-expected producer price index for September.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were woozy by the end of the day, raising yields to 4.71% from Wednesday’s 4.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices squeezed ahead five cents to $83.54 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $5.70 to $1,886.60.