Wall Street edged back from its records on Thursday.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged back from their records Thursday after reports showed inflation was a touch warmer last month than expected and more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 57 points, or 0.1%, after it likewise set an all-time high the day before. The Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1%.
Stocks had stormed to records in large part on excitement about easing interest rates, now that the Federal Reserve is cutting them as it widens its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.
Lower rates ease the brakes off the economy and juice prices for investments, but the pace of further cuts will depend on if inflation continues to head down toward the Fed’s 2% target as it expects.
Thursday’s report showed inflation slowed to 2.4% in…
