Most stocks fell on Wall Street following a disappointing update on inflation. But gains for Amazon and other influential Big Tech companies helped mask the losses on Thursday, and the S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.

Earlier this week, falling bond yields and growing expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts in the months ahead helped spark a rotation away from what had been working in the U.S.

The rally in small-cap stocks fizzled, with investors buying shares of large tech and financial companies.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.3% after flirting with its all-time high, which was set two weeks ago, earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 200 points, or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite shaved 0.3% off its own record.

As the latest inflation print lifts expectations an interest rate cut could be coming soon, speculative meme and small-cap stocks should stay in favor.

The stock market's on pace to snap a three-day winning streak after an inflation report nudged some investors to pare back rate cut hopes.

Most stocks are falling on Wall Street Thursday after a disappointing report said inflation was worse last month at the U.S. wholesale level than economists expected. Three out of every four stocks in the S&P 500 index dropped,