The US stock market closed lower on Thursday, led by a decline in technology stocks as investors turned more defensive.
Bank stocks also extended losses after mixed quarterly results.
The S&P 500 bank index fell, with Wells Fargo shares down 4.6% after the company missed fourth-quarter profit expectations.
Citigroup and Bank of America also fell, even though both companies beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit estimates.
Meanwhile, financial sector stocks that had surged in 2025 fell this week on concerns about President Donald Trump's proposal to cap credit card interest rates.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that Trump's plan risks hurting many consumers and hurting financial sector profits.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09% to 49,149.63, the S&P 500 fell 0.53% to 6,926.60 and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.00% to 23,471.75.
Investors also looked at early data yesterday showing that the Producer Price Index (PPI) matched forecasts in November, but the retail sales report was reported to have exceeded expectations.
A report published on Tuesday showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December rose in line with initial forecasts.
According to LSEG data, interest rates are widely expected to remain stable throughout the first half of 2026 including the Federal Reserve (Fed) policy meeting this month.
Most investors now expect at least two interest rate cuts before the end of 2026.
