ARX:CC - S&P NASDAQ Little Changed as Inflation Beats Forecasts

Stocks moved slightly lower Thursday, shrugging off a fresh round of inflation data that reflected an uptick in consumer prices for December.

The Dow Jones Industrials changed course and ended positive 15.29 points at 37.711.02

The S&P 500 sagged 3.21 points to 4,780.24.

The NASDAQ squeezed ahead 0.54 points to 14,970.18.

Thursday's selloff was, in part, influenced by tempered expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve's rate cut timeline as well as earnings jitters, according to CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall. This week is kickstarting the fourth-quarter earnings season, with banking behemoths Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase set to report results Friday.

Elsewhere in Thursday's market, Bitcoin ETFs rose on their first day of trading as crypto prices also edged up. Bitcoin briefly hit the $49,000 mark earlier Thursday before falling to just above $46,000. The moves follow Wednesday's approved rule changes from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which opened the door for bitcoin exchange-traded funds and expanded investors' access to the flagship crypto.

December's consumer price index report came out slightly higher-than-expected, reflecting a 0.3% increase in consumer prices for the month, pushing the annual rate to 3.4%. Economists polled by Dow Jones had predicted that the CPI rose 0.2% in December and 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, came out in line with expectations, however, pointing to persistent—yet easing—inflation pressures. The data released on Thursday suggests that future interest rate cuts may be slower to come.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 3.98% from Wednesday's 4.04%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices added 97 cents to $72.34 U.S. a barrel.