Stocks slip from their all-time high marks

Rate cuts may not happen quickly if U.S. economy remains strong

Stocks slipped Monday following the latest signal that the economy remains strong, which could delay the cuts to interest rates that Wall Street wants.

Inflation cooled less than expected in January and showed worrying staying power after volatile food and fuel costs were stripped out a reminder that bringing price increases under control remains a fraught, bumpy process.

The overall consumer price index was up 3.1% from a year earlier, which was down from 3.4% in December but more than the 2.9% that economists had forecast. That figure is down from the latest peak of 9.1% in the summer of 2022.

The S&P 500 fell 15.80 points, or 0.3%, to 4,942.81 from the all-time high set Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 274.30, or 0.7%, to 38,380.12, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 31.28, or 0.2%, to 15,597.68.

Earnings season is near its midpoint, and roughly half the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest results, including many of the market's most influential. Estee Lauder jumped 12% after it reported better revenue and profit than analysts expected. McDonald's, meanwhile, fell 3.7% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. Its revenue for the latest quarter fell just short of forecasts.

Companies that have been missing analysts' estimates for earnings this reporting season have been seeing their stocks get punished even more than usual, according to strategists at Bank of America.

Stocks broadly felt pressure from another jump for yields in the bond market. They rose as traders on Wall Street delayed their expectations for when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting its main interest rate.

The Fed has yanked the federal funds rate to its highest level since 2001 to bring down high inflation. High rates intentionally slow the economy by making borrowing more expensive and hurting investment prices.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said again in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Fed may cut interest rates three times this year because inflation has been cooling. But he also indicated again in the interview on “60 Minutes” that the Fed is unlikely to begin in March, as many traders had earlier hoped.

Following the interview, traders pushed out

some bets for the cuts to begin in June instead of May, according to data from CME Group.

At Goldman Sachs, economist David Mericle is still forecasting cuts to begin in

May. Following Sunday's interview, though, he sees a greater chance of rate cuts beginning later than that and happening in a steeper fashion.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.16% from 4.09% late Friday and from less than 3.80% late last year.

The jump accelerated after

a report showed U.S. services industries are growing more strongly than economists expected, led by health care and social assistance. Services businesses said they're optimistic about the economy, though they're still cautious because of inflation and other challenges, according to the Institute for

Supply Management

Such signals of a solid economy could give the Fed more reason to pause before cutting rates, because they could keep upward pressure on inflation. That hurts the stock market because interest rates are one of the main levers that set stock prices, with lower rates helping.

But there's also an upside

for stocks from the U.S. economy's blasting through worries about a possible recession. The economic strength should drive growth in profits for companies, which are the other lever that dictates where stock prices go over the long term.