Wall Street falls on persistent concern about interest rates

Wall Street’s main indexes were dragged down on Thursday by technology and growth stocks as investors worried about the Federal Reserve’s aggressive approach to reining in inflation ahead of next week’s interest rate decision.

At 15:13 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103.03 points, or 0.34%, at 31,023.17 points; the S&P 500 index was down 33.80 points, or 0.84%, at 3,913.30; and the Nasdaq Composite fell 153.85 points, or 1.30%, to 11,569.94 units.

All three indices are still struggling to find momentum after Tuesday’s US inflation reading triggered the biggest sell-off in more than two years.

Data released on Thursday showed US retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.3% in August, in a sign the economy could tolerate higher rates as the Fed tightens monetary policy.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed initial claims for state jobless benefits fell by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 in the week ended Sept. 10, indicating the resilience of the labor market.

Economic conditions are quite good in the US and it is quite compatible with the 75 basis point hike path for the next meeting,” said Mabrouk Chetouane of Natixis Investment Managers Solutions.

Rate-sensitive growth and technology stocks fell. Apple Inc, Microsoft and Alphabet Inc all fell about 1%, although Netflix Inc climbed 5.1% after Evercore ISI raised its shares to “overweight.”

Banks, which typically benefit from a rising rate environment, improved 2.1 percent. Healthcare stocks were buoyed by strong earnings forecasts from healthcare insurer Humana Inc.