Stocks close lower on Wall Street as rally momentum cools

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers

Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Thursday as investors tapped the brakes after three days of gains. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%,and the Nasdaq fell 1.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 1 point. Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. The pullback came after investors pushed the S&P 500 index up 3.6% over the first three days of the week, largely in response to easing worries about the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. CVS Health rose after raising its dividend and issuing a solid forecast. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.49%.