US stocks end lower, unable to extend rally

Wall Street stocks finished lower Thursday following a meandering session, as the market gave back some of the gains from the previous session.

Major indices spent part of the day in positive territory but were unable to extend Wednesday's rally following consumer pricing data that reassured investors about the inflation outlook.

"It's been a lackluster day for stocks after surging yesterday," said a note from Briefing.com.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.2 percent at 43,153.13.

The broad-based S&P 500 also declined 0.2 percent to 5,937.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 0.9 percent to 19,338.29.

US retail sales grew 0.4 percent from November to December, a slower pace than in November but still a solid increase. From a year ago, retail sales were up 3.9 percent in December.

The report came on the heels of Wednesday's consumer price index figures. which eased concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high.

After rocketing higher in 2024, stocks have begun in 2025 in a choppy fashion as Treasury bond yields have climbed.

Among individual companies, UnitedHealth Group sank six percent as it reported quarterly revenues that missed estimates and disclosed greater than expected costs in the just-finished quarter.

Fellow Dow member Apple also had a bad day, dropping four percent on worries about its China sales outlook.

Financial heavyweights Bank of America and Morgan Stanley added to the trove of solid bank earnings. Bank of America dipped one percent while Morgan Stanley jumped 4.0 percent.

(AFP)