Wall Street closed lower on Thursday as investors banked some profits after three straight days of gains and turned their focus toward upcoming inflation data and how it might influence the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week. The Nasdaq was down more sharply than the S&P 500 while the Dow was virtually flat, ending down less than 1 point. Investors were in a waiting game ahead of U.S. consumer prices index (CPI) inflation data due Friday morning. A higher-than-expected reading would strengthen the case for a policy tightening decision at the U.S. central bank’s meeting. In the first three days of the week, the Nasdaq rallied 4.7 percent, the S&P advanced 3.6 percent and the Dow gained 3.4 percent as fears abated about the latest coronavirus variant Omicron. “We had a rip roaring rally. There’s still nervous people out there,” said Dennis Dick, head of markets structure, proprietary trader at Bright Trading …