Stocks Slip in Choppy Trade as Tariff Outlook Eyed

U.S. stocks closed slightly lower Thursday after veering between gains and losses as investors gauged the latest round of economic data and the Federal Reserve's policy statement against tariff concerns.

Selling pressure has intensified in recent weeks after a string of economic indicators signaled the economy and consumer sentiment may be cooling as the Trump administration imposes reciprocal trade tariffs.

Still, equities rose in three of the prior four sessions, with the benchmark S&P index rallying more than 1% on Wednesday after the Fed kept interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and indicated two quarter-point interest-rate cuts were likely later this year, the same median forecast as three months ago.

The central bank also said it sees slower economic growth and at least temporarily higher inflation.

"It is very volatile. The news is very volatile," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "The market's pretty focused on it and a lot of it's going to depend on how certain news items play out over the next couple of weeks."

"We're putting a bottom in here, but when I survey the near-term news flow, I don't have a lot of hope that we're going to suddenly leap out of this," he added.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 12.65 points, or 0.22%, to end at 5,662.64 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 59.16 points, or 0.35%, to 17,688.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11.31 points, or 0.03%, to 41,953.32.

Economic data on Thursday showed weekly initial jobless claims increased slightly last week, although the outlook may be dimming due to government spending cuts, interest rate levels and policy uncertainty.

The Conference Board reported that a measure of future economic activity fell 0.3% in February after easing 0.2% in January.

Market participants are pricing in 63 basis points of cuts from the Fed this year, with 71% odds for a cut of at least 25 basis points at the June meeting, according to LSEG data.

Technology was the weakest of the 11 major sectors while energy advanced as crude prices rose nearly 2% after the United States issued new Iran-related sanctions.

Company profit prospects have been dimming recently due to the uncertain tariff outlook, but Darden Restaurants shares jumped after the Olive Garden owner gave a positive outlook regarding the impact of tariffs on its business.

Accenture shares tumbled after the consultancy firm said the Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal spending have led to delays and cancellations of new contracts.