Dow ekes out gain Thursday, but stocks end mostly lower in late-session retreat

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Thursday as a sharp equity rally that followed cooler inflation data for July took a breather. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.08%
still gained about 27 points, or 0.1%, ending near 33,337, a day after all three major stock indexes posted their highest close since early May, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
-0.07%
fell about 0.1% Thursday, closing just above the key 4,200 level, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
-0.58%
shed 0.6%, a day after it officially exited a bear market. While investors have cheered signs that surging U.S. inflation may be starting to slow, the risk remains that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates until the economy buckles as it looks to wrestle inflation back to a more tolerable level. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 10.6 basis points Thursday to 2.886%, its highest yield in three weeks, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The bond-market bellwether set a high for the year of 3.482% in mid-June and then retreated.