Late slide sends Wall Street lower in more uncertain trading

A wobbly day of trading on Wall Street ended with a modest pullback for stocks Wednesday as investors weighed a report showed that inflation remains very hot, likely paving the way for more aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

A late-afternoon drop erased tentative gains that the major stock indexes had been clinging to for much of the day. The S&P 500 ended 0.3% lower, its sixth consecutive loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite each slipped 0.1%.

Treasury yields, which have driven much of Wall Street’s recent trading, ended lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects mortgage rates, fell to 3.90% from 3.95% late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slipped to 4.28% from 4.30%.