How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 3/14/2024

Stocks slipped away from their records following a mixed batch of economic reports. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% Thursday after giving up an earlier, modest gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. Treasury yields rose following the latest in a string of data showing inflation was worse than expected. That kept the door closed on earlier hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates this month. But traders still expect cuts to start in June, and other reports on Thursday showed some softening in pressure on inflation.