By Joe Wallace and Karen Langley
U.S. stocks fell Wednesday, extending their recent declines after fresh data showed the rise in consumer prices picked up speed in April.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, after starting the week with its biggest two-day decline since early March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.9%, or about 300 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.9%.
The consumer-price index jumped 4.2% in April from a year before, the Labor Department said Wednesday, the highest 12-month level since the summer of 2008.
The index measures what consumers pay for goods and services such as clothes, restaurant meals and vehicles. Core prices, which exclude the volatile categories of food and energy, rose 3% from a year earlier.