01:36 PM EDT, 03/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell after midday Thursday as a stronger-than-anticipated wholesale price inflation report lifted government bond yields.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 5,136.1, with the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6% to 16,079.8 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.5% lower at 38,862.2. Barring communication services and energy, all the other sectors declined intraday. Real estate and utilities led the decliners.

In economic news, the US Producer Price Index rose by 0.6% in February following a 0.3% increase in January, above the 0.3% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. After excluding food and energy prices, core PPI increased by 0.3%, above the 0.2% gain expected and following a 0.5% gain in the previous month.

"On the heels of a hotter-than-expected consumer price report, this morning's elevated read on producer prices reinforces the notion of sticky inflation and the need for a patient Fed," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note. "In fact, with back-to-back months of accelerating price pressures, there is a growing concern the Fed may have stopped short of a sufficiently restrictive level to tame inflation, distracted by the prospect of a soft landing."

The US 10-year Treasury yield jumped 9.6 basis points to 4.29%, and the two-year advanced 6.5 basis points to 4.69%.

Meanwhile, US retail sales rose by 0.6% in February, versus the 0.8% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following the previous month's 1.1% decline.

Rising prices at the pump accounted for a good amount of the headline rise, leaving the control group, which feeds directly into gross domestic product, flat for the month. Piegza said in the note. "While still rising over 2% on an annual basis, forecasts for Q1 GDP are likely to be revised down to reflect a more tempered level of activity."

The probability of the Fed's easing cycle beginning in June stood at 57% versus 58% a day ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool Thursday, implying traders' expectations for a 25 basis-point cut in the month have not changed materially.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.2% to $81.49 per barrel intraday.

In company news, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Oracle (ORCL) said Thursday they are adding five more regions to their database collaboration, bringing the total planned multi-cloud availability footprint to 15 globally. Shares of Microsoft ( MSFT ) jumped 1.9% intraday, the top gainer on the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow.

UBS adjusted Tesla's (TSLA) price target to $165 from $225, while maintaining the company's neutral stock rating. Shares of Tesla slumped 4.2%, among the worst performers on the Nasdaq.

Gold for April delivery on the Comex fell 0.6% to $2,168.4 per troy ounce. Silver dropped 0.3% to $25.09 per troy ounce.