Stock market today: Wall Street slips as hopes dim for an imminent cut to interest rates

abcnews.go.com:

Wall Street is slipping again after a stronger-than-expected report on the U.S. economy weakened hopes that easier interest rates would arrive soon

NEW YORK — Wall Street is slipping Wednesday after stronger-than-expected data on the economy weakened hopes that easier interest rates will arrive soon.

The S&P 500 was 0.7% lower in afternoon trading and on track for a second straight drop after closing out its 10th winning week in the last 11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 148 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:52 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.

Rising yields in the bond market were once again putting downward pressure on stocks. Yields climbed after a report showed sales at U.S. retailers were stronger last month than economists expected. While that’s good news for an economy that’s defied predictions for a recession, it could also keep upward pressure on inflation.

That in turn could push the Federal Reserve to wait longer than traders expect to begin cutting interest rates after jacking them drastically higher over the last two years. Lower rates would relax the pressure on the economy and financial system, while also goosing prices for investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped immediately after the retail-sales report and climbed to 4.10% from 4.06% late Tuesday and from 3.85% a few weeks ago. Higher yields can crimp profits for companies, while also making investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks.

Higher yields hurt all kinds of investments, and high-growth stocks tend to be some of the hardest hit. Drops of about 1% or more for Tesla, Apple and Amazon were some of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. The smaller stocks in the Russell 2000 index also slumped more