NEW YORK: US stocks fell in early trading on Thursday as fresh economic data suggested inflation was picking up and a key job markets number disappointed.
At 1515 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17.71 points (0.14 percent) at 12,270.54. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 2.45 points (0.18 percent) to 1,333.87, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was off 2.58 (0.09 percent) at 2,822.98.
The US stock markets followed in the footsteps of their European counterparts, which were all trading lower Thursday.
A pickup in inflation also fed sentiment. The Labor Department's consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in January from December, slightly higher than economists expected, but confirming a large increase in the price of common goods over the last year.
Gasoline prices rose 13.4 percent in the last 12 months, while grocery prices were up 2.1 percent.
The Labor Department also reported that US unemployment insurance applications rose for the first time in three weeks.
A seasonally adjusted 410,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending February 12, up 6.5 percent from the prior week when claims had fallen to their lowest level since July 2008.
The numbers continued to hover near a two-year low, official data showed.
Meanwhile new earnings reports were mixed. Broadcaster CBS Corp beat analysts' forecasts for fourth-quarter earnings per share by seven percent.
Graphics card developer NVIDIA's fourth-quarter earnings per share were 21 percent below average forecasts on a 10 percent drop in income.
CBS shares were down 1.13 percent while NVIDIA was higher by 3.55 percent.
The bond market rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell to 3.571 percent from 3.621 percent late Wednesday. The 30-year bond's yield was at 4.649 percent, down from 4.674 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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