Slight decline for Dow

A late selloff left US stocks modestly lower today as weakening consumer confidence and a rise in wholesale prices prompted investors to take profits and put the brakes on Wall Street’s recent rebound.

The market’s losses were also fed by soaring energy prices and a meagre profit forecast from Dell. But the upswing in the producer price index – seen as a precursor to consumer-level inflation – once again sparked concerns about more interest rate increases, a day after one Federal Reserve member said the central bank was nearing an end to its string of rate hikes.