NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks weakened Thursday ahead of the most important event of the week on Wall Street, a speech by Jerome Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve comes on Friday.

The S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent, its worst day in a two-week rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 177 points, or 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 percent.

Stocks fell as U.S. Treasury yields added pressure to the bond market following mixed data on the U.S. economy. Slowdown under the burden of high interest rates should get Inflation under control.

A report showed slightly more US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. The number is still low by historical standards, but the increase could be a sign that the labor market is continuing to cool.

Meanwhile, a second report indicated that US economic activity remains deeply divided. According to preliminary data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, growth in the services sector is accelerating. But the country’s manufacturing sector appears to be shrinking more sharply.

Overall, the data suggests that the US economy continues to grow but also shows some fragility.

“Growth has become increasingly dependent on the services sector as manufacturing, which often leads the business cycle, has entered a decline,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate to its highest level in more than two decades, hoping to slow the economy enough to keep inflation under control, but not so much that it a recessionGiven the slowdown in inflation, it is widely expected that Federal Reserve cuts interest rates at its next meeting in September, which would be the first easing since the COVID crash in 2020.

So attention is now turning to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Powell will speak on Friday at an economic symposium that has been the scene of major Fed policy announcements in the past. It is hoped that Powell will provide clues about how quickly and deeply the Fed might cut interest rates to ease the economy.

One danger is that investors’ expectations about the upcoming cuts are exaggerated. occurred frequently historically. That may make the decline in Treasury yields since the spring seem exaggerated. The decline has helped lower mortgage rates, which in turn has helped sales of used homes. Stop a four-month decline in July.

Meanwhile, US companies continue to report mostly better-than-expected earnings for the spring.

Internet-based fitness company Peloton rose 35.4 percent after beating revenue forecasts and losing less money than analysts expected in its latest quarter, marking the first time the company has seen modest revenue growth in more than two years.

Another pandemic winner whose fortunes waned afterward is Zoom Video Communications, which also saw a rebound after announcing its earnings. The company climbed 13% after reporting better-than-expected results and revenue in its latest quarter.

On Wall Street, however, more stocks fell than rose, including Nvidia, the single heaviest weight in the S&P 500. It erased an early gain and fell before the its eagerly awaited earnings report coming next week.

Earlier in the day, Nvidia was briefly the biggest force driving the S&P 500 higher, but the stock has fluctuated wildly over the past month amid concerns that the price may have shot up too much on the back of the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence. Despite Thursday’s loss, Nvidia stock is still up 150% year to date.

Also on the losing side of Wall Street was Snowflake, which fell 14.7 percent in the last quarter despite exceeding earnings and sales expectations. The forecast for product sales in the current quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Advance Auto Parts plunged 17.5 percent after its latest quarter profit fell short of Wall Street expectations. The company cited a “difficult demand environment” and cut its full-year profit forecast well below Wall Street expectations.

Overall, the S&P 500 fell 50.21 points to 5,570.64. The Dow lost 177.71 to 40,712.78 and the Nasdaq lost 299.63 to 17,619.35.

In the bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasuries rose to 3.86% from 3.80% late Wednesday.

On the foreign stock markets, indices in Asia and Europe recorded mostly moderate movements. South Korea’s Kospi rose by 0.2 percent after the Korean central bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting.

An outlier was the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, which rose 1.4 percent.

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AP business writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.