Tech troubles bring stocks lower

U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four days as technology shares came under pressure from trade and earnings concerns. Treasuries hit the lowest since February amid inflation worries.

The S&P 500 Index dropped as tech shares slumped after Taiwan Semiconductor’s disappointing forecast roiled chipmaker stocks. China’s request for concessions from Qualcomm Inc. to acquire NXP Semiconductors NV ratcheted up tensions over trade. Earnings misses from Procter & Gamble Co. and Philip Morris International Inc. weighed on consumer staples.

Stocks pared part of the loss in late trading after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was said to tell President Donald Trump last week he isn’t a target of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Meanwhile, commodities prices remained high in the aftermath of U.S. sanctions on Russia and heightened tariff concerns. While torrid gains in metals from aluminum to nickel and oil faltered Thursday, the rallies have spurred speculation inflation will pick up. That helped to push 10-year Treasury yields above 2.9 percent for the first time since February.

Rate-sensitive shares responded, with financial firms rallying the most in the S&P 500. Blowout earnings from American Express helped. Bond proxies like real-estate firms retreated. The dollar gained the most in three weeks.

“If crude starts to take off and with it wages go higher, prices for housing go higher, etcetera, etcetera, you get your inflation pretty quickly from that,” Joe “JJ” Kinahan, the chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said by phone. “This is the second day this week we’ve seen bonds get hit pretty good, so now it has everybody nervous for the economy if rates do go higher, what does it mean for the overall economy outside financials?”