HAL - Stocks Fade from All-Time Highs
The S&P 500 fell from a record on Thursday as investors awaited more details on the Federal Reserve's plan to pull back on monetary stimulus from the central bank's annual symposium on Friday.
Traders were also observing new developments in Afghanistan, which added to the risk-off sentiment. The Pentagon confirmed 12 U.S. service members were killed and 15 wounded after two explosions went off outside the Kabul airport Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 192.38 points to finish Thursday at 35,213.12
The S&P 500 deducted 26.19 points from Wednesday's all-time high to 4,470.
The NASDAQ Composite took from Wednesday's record by 96.05 points to 14,945.81.
Energy stocks were among the hardest hit, with Diamondback Energy and Occidental Petroleum down 2.5% while APA Corp lost 2.4% and Halliburton fell 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises dropped 3%, while Carnival and Norwegian lost 2%. Airlines broadly fell more than 1%.
Salesforce is led the Dow, with shares about 2.6% higher on fiscal second-quarter earnings and forward guidance that exceeded analysts' estimates. Another cloud company, NetApp, added more than 4%.
Shares of Dollar Tree dropped 12% and Dollar General slumped 3%, after reporting quarterly results. Abercrombie & Fitch tumbled 10% as supply chain constraints and delayed back-to-school purchases hurt sales.
Mixed economic data did little to change the sour mood. Weekly initial jobless claims came in at 353,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, a slight increase from the prior week's 349,000 and more than economists expected.
Economic growth totaled 6.6% in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department's second reading released on Thursday. That was a slight revision upward from the 6.5% annual increase previously reported, but slightly lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 6.7%.
The highly anticipated Jackson Hole symposium from the Fed will be held virtually this year on Friday, with many central bank speakers making remarks to the media beginning Thursday. At the event, central bankers could provide updates on their plan around tapering the Fed's monthly bond purchases.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys dipped, pulling up yields to 1.35% from Wednesday's 1.34%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices docked 52 cents to $67.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $3.40 to $1,796.60 U.S. an ounce.