U.S. stocks fall amid economic data, rate hike expectations

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as Wall Street assessed a batch of economic data and the Federal Reserve's future rate moves.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.27 points, or 0.56 percent, to 30,961.82. The S&P 500 decreased 44.66 points, or 1.13 percent, to 3,901.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 167.32 points, or 1.43 percent, to 11,552.36.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with energy and utilities down 2.54 percent and 2.53 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. The health care and the financials groups eked out modest gains.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that the nation's initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, decreased by 5,000 to 213,000 for the week ending Sept. 10, marking the lowest level since late May. This is also the fifth week in a row that jobless claims have fallen.

U.S. retail sales rose an unexpected 0.3 percent in August after falling 0.4 percent in July, according to the Commerce Department.

U.S. equities have been under pressure recently as concerns over inflation and higher interest rates gripped the market.

Tuesday's hotter-than-expected August U.S. consumer price index report suggested inflation was possibly becoming entrenched and boosted the likelihood of more aggressive rate hikes from the Fed.