Stocks moved lower Thursday, shrugging off a fresh round of inflation data that reflected an uptick in consumer prices for December.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 216.05 points to open Thursday at 37,479.68.
The S&P 500 sagged 21.04 points to 4,762.41.
The NASDAQ gave back 64.68 points to 14,904.97.
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.
Investors are also eyeing the kickoff of the fourth-quarter earnings season, which will see banking behemoths Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase report results Friday.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin ETFs rose on their first day of trading on Thursday as crypto prices also edged up. Bitcoin gained more than 4%, soaring higher than $47,900. 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.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were static, keeping yields at Wednesday's 4.04%.
Oil prices rumbled ahead $1.80 to $73.17 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $4.20 to $2,032.