MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Retreat From Records As Dow Snaps Nine-day Winning Streak

Dow briefly hits intraday record, but gives up gains

U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday, with the Dow snapping a nine-day winning streak as investors found few reasons to chase equities a day after the Federal Reserve indicated it still intends to deliver another rate increase in 2017 and detailed the unwinding of $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.36 points, or 0.2%, to close at 22,359.23, though it briefly inched up to a new intraday record at 22,419.51 before retreating. The S&P 500 slipped 7.64 points, or 0.3%, to end at 2,500.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 33.35 points, or 0.5%, to close at 6,422.69.

"Valuations are getting a little stretched, and it seems like there is some complacency in the markets," said Wade Balliet, chief investment strategist at Bank of the West, who said his firm remained overweight on equities, although they had been taking profits by trimming their positions over the past 12 to 18 months. "Nothing has popped up as the next likely place where we could see a recession, but most countries are seeing growth, just not as strong as they would like."

Read: Robert Schiller: .Stock market looks like it did before most of the previous 13 bear markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-stock-market-looks-like-it-did-before-most-of-the-previous-13-bear-markets-2017-09-21)

The day's losses were shallow but broad, with nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors down on the day. Among the biggest movers, technology shares fell 0.4%, pressured by Apple Inc.(AAPL), which fell 1.7%, and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), which shed 2.7%. Facebook Inc.(FB) dropped 0.6%.

Read:Apple's divergence from Nasdaq could spell trouble for tech stocks' rally (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apples-divergence-from-nasdaq-could-spell-trouble-for-tech-stocks-rally-2017-09-21)

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday left rates unchanged, at a range of 1% to 1.25%, but indicated that it plans to deliver another rate increase in 2017 and announced it will begin to unwind its asset portfolio (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/still-on-course-fed-signals-one-more-rate-hike-in-2017-2017-09-20)in October.

Check out:How the 'great central bank unwind' could ignite the next financial crisis (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-great-central-bank-unwind-could-ignite-the-next-financial-crisis-2017-09-20)

"The Fed is telegraphing and being transparent with what it will do; I think the only way we'll see a lot of volatility from this is if it gets more aggressive with the pace with which it reduces the balance sheet," Balliet said.

The announcement sparked the biggest rally for the ICE dollar index since January, according to FactSet, but on Thursday it fell 0.3%. Against the yen , however, the buck rose to Yen112.56 from Yen112.21 late Wednesday in New York. That move got a boost from the Bank of Japan's decision to leave policy unchanged (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-japan-leaves-monetary-policy-unchanged-2017-09-20).

Gold prices slumped after the Fed decision (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-slides-below-1300-after-feds-rate-hike-hint-2017-09-21), as the dollar rose and investors lost interest in nonyielding assets. December gold settled 1.6% lower, its lowest settlement in almost a month.

Economic news: In the latest economic data, initial jobless claims fell sharply in mid-September (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-subside-in-mid-september-despite-hurricane-damage-2017-09-21), reflecting fewer new claims than expected in Florida and Texas following a pair of destructive hurricanes. Separately, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose more than expected (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philly-fed-manufacturing-index-accelerates-in-september-2017-09-21) to a reading of 23.8, a three-month high, from 18.9 in August. U.S. leading indicators rose 0.4% in August.

See:MarketWatch's economic calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)

Stock movers: Shares of Calgon Carbon Corp.(CCC) soared 62% after the maker of air- and water-purification products reached a $1.1 billion deal to be bought by Japan's Kuraray (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/calgon-carbon-shares-soar-62-as-company-to-be-acquired-by-kuraray-in-11-billion-deal-2017-09-21)(3405.TO) .

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(AMD) earlier rose on reports that it would be working with Tesla Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-working-with-amd-on-autopilot-chip-cnbc-2017-09-20).(TSLA) to produce a chip for the car maker's Autopilot, but the stock surrendered those gains to trade down 2.4%. Tesla was also off 2%.

Ash Grove Cement Co.(ASHG) soared 83% after Irish building-materials company CRH PLC(CRG.DB) said it would buy the U.S. cement maker in a $3.5 billion deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crh-agrees-to-buy-ash-grove-cement-in-35-billion-deal-2017-09-21).

In other corporate news, Alphabet Inc.'s Google(GOOGL) and HTC Corp.(2498.TW) announced a $1.1 billion cooperation agreement Wednesday night (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-htc-sign-11-billion-cooperation-agreement-2017-09-20).

Other markets:Asian shares closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-gains-steam-outpacing-other-asian-markets-2017-09-20) as they reacted to the Fed decision, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index getting a boost from the weaker yen to close higher. After regional markets closed, S&P Global Ratings cut its credit rating on China to "A+/A-1."

European stocks rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-step-higher-with-bank-gains-providing-a-lift-2017-09-21), while oil prices were flat.

--Sara Sjolin contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2017 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)