Stocks slipped Thursday as Wall Street's red-hot rally for the year cooled a bit more. The S&P 500 fell 11.50, or 0.3%, to 4,501.89 for its third straight loss after setting a 16-month high, per the AP. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 66.63, or 0.2%, to 35,215.89, and the Nasdaq composite dipped 13.73, or 0.1%, to 13,959.72. A day earlier, US stocks tumbled to their worst loss in months. While the drop came after Fitch Ratings downgraded the US government's credit rating, analysts say they expect the move to mean little for financial markets. US Treasury debt is the cornerstone of the global financial system, but the downgrade likely won't push any investors to dump theirs.
The big questions remain whether the economy will avoid a recession, how corporate profits will do, and where interest rates are heading. Hanging over them all is whether the stock market's big run this year was overdone, as critics suggest. In the market Thursday, Qualcomm tumbled 8.2% for one of the larger losses in the S&P 500. It reported weaker revenue for the spring than expected, even though its profit topped forecasts. On the winning side was Clorox, which jumped 9%. It reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.
Stocks of energy producers were also stronger, and Exxon Mobil gained 1.7%. They benefited as crude prices rallied after Saudi Arabia said it will keep in place cuts to production meant to boost oil's price. A potentially market-moving report will arrive Friday morning, when the government gives its latest monthly update on the job market. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has highlighted it as a key datapoint that could influence the Fed's next move on interest rates in September.
(More
stock market stories.)