Stocks fell Thursday, but finished well off session lows as investors weighed the size and scope of expected rate hikes and assessed downbeat earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 143 points, or 0.5%, to finish near 30,630, according to preliminary figures, while the S&P 500
SPX,
shed 0.3% to close near 3,790 and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
eked out a gain of less than 0.1% to end near 11,251. Stocks had fallen sharply in early trade, but losses were trimmed after Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said he still favored a 75 basis point rate hike when policy makers meet later this month versus a 100 basis point move that investors had started to price in after Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected consumer-price index reading. Waller left the door open to a larger hike, however, depending on how strong retail sales and housing data are ahead of the Fed meeting.
