NEW YORK—Most stocks marched lower Wednesday as stubbornly sticky inflation has Wall Street bracing for interest rates to stay higher for longer.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent in its first trading after coming off a frigid February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up by 5 points, or less than 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7 percent.
After a hot start to the year, the stock market has struggled as data piled up to show inflation and the overall economy are remaining more resilient than expected. That forced many investors to delay their forecasts for a recession to later in the year, while also raising their expectations for how high the Federal Reserve will take interest rates….