NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning after huge gains the day before. Technology and internet companies are taking some of the largest losses and banks are down with interest rates. The S&P 500 index is coming off its largest rally in eight months and has climbed 3.5 percent this week. Deutsche Bank skidded after German authorities searched its offices on suspicion some of the bank's employees helped clients launder money.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index lost 18 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,724 at 11:20 a.m. Eastern time. It soared 2.4 percent Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 153 points, or 0.6 percent, to 25,209. The Nasdaq composite shed 58 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,232. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 9 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,521.
Stocks surged after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested in a speech that the Fed might be almost done raising interest rates, and is willing to stop raising rates at least temporarily so it can assess the effects of the last few years of increases. Investors were happy to hear that, as they've been nervous that climbing interest rates will contribute to a damaging slowdown in economic growth. That fear is one of the major reasons behind the stock market's recent slide.
BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.01 percent from 3.04 percent as investors expected slower increases in interest rates. That hurt banks, which make less money from mortgages and other types of loans when rates fall. Bank of America shed 1.2 percent to $28.08 and Citigroup slid 1 percent to $64.93.
SEARCHED BANK: German authorities suspect that Deutsche Bank employees helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to launder hundreds of millions of euros. A prosecutor in Frankfurt said the investigation focuses on two employees and possibly other suspects. Deutsche Bank stock lost5 percent to $9.40. It's down 51 percent so far this year.
CALL YOUR DOCTOR: Medical lab operator Quest Diagnostics sank 9.3 percent to $87.96 after it cut its annual profit and revenue forecasts. The company cited a host of problems including larger reserves and reduced testing volumes. Rival LabCorp fell 3.9 percent to $158.62.
CHIP CHIP, HOORAY: Qualcomm stock jumped 2.7 percent to $58.16 after Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said the company is close to resolving its long and costly dispute with Apple. Apple stopped making licensing fee payments to Qualcomm following a legal dispute between the companies, and later decided to stop using Qualcomm parts in some of its products.
But other technology companies fell. Apple slipped 1.7 percent to $177.81 and Microsoft dipped 1.5 percent to $109.45. Intel lost 1.8 percent to $7.97.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude briefly dipped below $50 a barrel overnight, but Thursday morning was up 1.6 percent at $51.10 a barrel in New York. Brent crude rose 1.3 percent to $59.85 a barrel in London.
Energy companies also traded slightly higher. The S&P 500 index of energy companies has dropped 12 percent over the last three months, worse than any of the other major market sectors. The S&P 500 itself has fallen 6.5 percent over that time.
CONSUMER SPENDING: Consumer spending and incomes both climbed in October. The Commerce Department said both figures grew much faster than they did in September. Those are both good signs for future economic growth.
CURRENCY: The dollar slid to 113.38 yen from 113.53 yen. The euro dipped to $1.1368 from $1.1376.
OVERSEAS: European stocks rose following Wednesday's large gains in the U.S. The FTSE 100 in Britain and the French CAC 40 both rose 0.6 percent. Germany's DAX was little changed.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.3 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.9 percent.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP
