U.S. Stocks Drop After Big Rally

By Chris Dieterich 

U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday, pulling back after the market's biggest one-day gain of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points, or 0.2%, to 16964. The S&P 500 declined three points, or 0.2%, to 1966, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell six points, or 0.1%, to 4463.

Stocks have seen choppy trading since the S&P 500 peaked on Sept. 18, amid signs of flagging global growth.

A drop of nearly 273 points in the Dow on Tuesday was erased by a nearly 275-point rebound on Wednesday, the biggest jump of the year for blue chips.

That rally was sparked by minutes from last month's meeting of Federal Reserve officials, who expressed concern that weakness overseas and a strong dollar could hit the bottom lines of big U.S. companies.

A more nuanced view from the Fed left traders to recalibrate their expectations for when the central bank might raise interest rates. The Dow has swung more than 200 points in four of the past six trading days.

"The Fed was on the glide path toward beginning to tighten" monetary policy in the beginning of next year, said David Robin, co-head of financial futures and options at brokerage Newedge. "Now, reading the minutes, you can make the argument that they're not even close."

The start to corporate earnings season is also in focus.

Alcoa rose 0.9% after the aluminum producer's earnings report topped analyst expectations on rising aluminum prices.

Ruby Tuesday shot 18% higher after the casual-dining chain swung to a quarterly profit.

Retailer Gap slumped 12% after the company said that its chief executive, Glenn Murphy, will step down next year. The retailer reported flat same-store sales for September.

PepsiCo rose 1.2% after reporting that volumes in its beverage and snack categories ticked up 1% in the latest quarter.

Stock futures pared losses slightly after a report showing that the number of Americans filing for unemployment in the most recent week was 287,000, lower than the 292,000 expected by economists. The data show continued improvement in the labor market. The four-week average of weekly jobless claims fell to 287,750, the lowest level since 2006.

After the opening bell, August wholesale inventories, a reading of the merchandise piling up on wholesalers' shelves, is expected to rise 0.4% from a month earlier.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 2.319%, compared with 2.331% late Wednesday.

U.S. oil futures lost 0.7% to $86.72 a barrel. Gold futures added 1.6% to $1,225.00 an ounce. The dollar advanced against the euro but fell versus the yen.

The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.2%, while Germany's DAX added 0.5%.

Asian markets were mixed. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.8%.

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