U.S. stocks dropped as a hotter producer price index (PPI) overshadowed

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 234.44 points, or 0.53 percent, to 43,914.12. The S&P 500 sank 32.94 points, or 0.54 percent, to 6,051.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 132.05 points, or 0.66 percent, to 19,902.84.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with consumer discretionary and health leading the laggards by losing 0.84 percent and 0.83 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer staples bucked the trend by rising 0.18 percent.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday, marking a symbolic gesture to the financial community as he prepares to assume office.

Addressing a crowd of traders and business leaders, Trump vowed to deliver an economic boom, signaling his administration's commitment to pro-growth policies, "we're going to give tremendous incentive like no other country has," including by cutting taxes "very substantially."

Tech stocks led the day's decline. Nvidia dropped 1.41 percent, while Adobe tumbled 13.69 percent after issuing a weaker-than-expected outlook for 2025. Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Amazon also traded slightly lower.

This setback followed the consumer price index report earlier in the week, which aligned with economists' expectations and fueled optimism about a potential interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's meeting next week. Nevertheless, Thursday's PPI data introduced fresh uncertainties about the Fed's path forward.

Also on Thursday, Stifel analysts project that the S&P 500 index will likely peak in the first half of 2025, driven by current market momentum and robust earnings. However, they warn of a subsequent 10 percent to 15 percent decline in the second half of the year. Stifel expects the Fed to pause its rate-cutting cycle, holding rates at 4 percent at its January policy meeting, posing risks to the markets around mid-2025.