Major indexes slip in morning trading on Wall Street

American flags fly outside the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday as the broader market continued pulling back from a surge earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is still on track for a 4.8% gain this week following its best two-day rally since the spring of 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 217 points, or 0.7%, to 30,056 and the Nasdaq fell 0.6%.

Treasury yields gained ground and put more pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, rose to 3.82% from 3.75% late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve action, rose to 4.20% from 4.14% late Monday.

Investors were reviewing the latest data on the jobs market. More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the largest number in four months, according to the U.S. government. But the labor market remains strong in the face of persistent inflation and a slowing overall U.S. economy.

Wall Street is watching employment data very closely as the Fed remains determined to raise interest rates to try and tame the hottest inflation in four decades. Investors are concerned that the Fed could go too far with its rate increases and push the economy into a recession.

The job market has been a particularly strong area of an otherwise slowing economy. Any sign that it's weakening could factor into the the Fed's future decisions to either remain aggressive or ease up. Government employment data released on Tuesday indicated that the job market may be cooling. A more closely watched monthly employment report, for September, will be released on Friday.

Wall Street analysts expect the government to report that the U.S. economy added 250,000 jobs last month, well below the average of 487,000 a month over the past year, but still a strong number that suggests the labor market is healthy despite chronic inflation and two straight quarters of U.S. economic contraction.

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Joe McDonald and Matt Ott contributed to this report.