U.S. stocks lose ground in uneven trading to open December

NEW YORK –

Stocks fell in uneven trading on Wall Street Thursday and bond yields pulled back after the government reported that a measure of inflation that’s closely watched by the Federal Reserve eased in October.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 10:19 a.m. Eastern. The benchmark index was roughly split between gainers and losers, but some big tech stocks weighed down the broader market.

Salesforce slumped 10.4% as Bret Taylor said he would resign as co-CEO of the customer-management software developer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 335 points, or 1%, to 34,236 and the Nasdaq rose 0.6%.

Major indexes are coming off of their second straight month of gains.

Yields on both short-term and long-term bonds fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, edged lower to 3.60% from 3.61% late Wednesday.

Investors are reviewing the latest update on inflation. A measure of inflation that is closely monitored by the Fed eased in October. Wall Street has been closely watching any updates about inflation to get a better sense of whether the Fed will tone down its aggressive interest rate increases.

The central bank has been deliberately slowing the economy in order to tame stubbornly hot inflation. Prices have been falling, but still remain historically high.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank could begin moderating its pace of rate hikes as soon as December, when its policymaking committee will hold its next meeting. The Fed, though, has been very clear about its intent to continue raising interest rates until it is sure that inflation is cooling.

The Fed has raised its benchmark rate six times since March, driving it to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest in 15 years. Wall Street expects as much and expects the benchmark rate to reach a peak range of 5% to 5.25% by the middle of 2023.