Stocks are pulling back for November

Technology companies led U.S. stocks lower Wednesday, giving the market its biggest loss since early September.

Grocery stores and packaged foods and beverage companies also accounted for much of the decline. Energy stocks fell as the price of crude closed lower a day after its biggest loss since October. Banks and phone companies eked out modest gains.

The latest slide extended the market’s losses from aday earlier and added to its pullback in November.

Unlike October’s broad market rally, fewer stocks and sectors have been notching gains this month, and the latest market decline reflects that, noted Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird.

“And that’s exemplary of a market that’s losing momentum, and that’s the real story here,” Bittles said. “It means the market is struggling here, and it could mean that a lot of the good news on the economy, earnings and even the potential for a taxreform bill are to a great extent already built into current prices.”

The major indexes are all in the red for the month but still near their recent record highs.

Stocks were headed lower from the get-go on Wednesday as investors weighed a batch of new government data on inflation, retail sales and manufacturing.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.2 percent in October, while a closely watched report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed manufacturing expanded at a slower pace this month in New York but remained at a healthy level. Americans are boosting their spending, but incomes are rising only modestly. That has pushed more people to borrow to finance their purchas- es, particularly of autos. That has renewed worried about whether U.S. households can stay on top of their burgeoning debt loads.

In addition, the Labor Department said consumerprices edged up 0.1 percent last month, the smallest gain in three months. That followed a report earlier this week showing that prices at the wholesale level spiked last month.

“The inflation data that was released this week are basically giving a green light to the Fed to raise rates,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.

Investors were keeping an eye on Washington, where Senate Republicans began pushing their version of a major tax overhaul that would slash corporate taxes.

But the Senate measure was complicated by the last-minute inclusion of a repeal of the section of the Affordable Care Act that requires Americans to get insurance coverage. The legislative push also appeared to hit a snag Wednesday, when Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he opposes the GOP tax bill, saying it helps corporations more than other businesses.

Expectations of a big business tax cut have helped lift the market this year.