After the announcement that inflation in the USA was higher than expected in January, the indices mostly pointed downwards on the stock exchanges in New York. At the close on Wednesday, the broad S&P 500 index had fallen 0.3 percent and the Dow Jones industrial index had dropped 0.5 percent, while the Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index closed unchanged.
The price of crude oil fell over 2 percent after President Donald Trump's statement that he would initiate negotiations with his Russian counterpart about the war in Ukraine. A consequence could be that international oil transports are simplified.
Energy giant Exxon Mobil fell 3.0 percent and competitor Chevron lost 1.6 percent.
Interest rates on government bonds rose, both the two-year and ten-year rates. The interest rate on the ten-year bond increased to 4.63 from 4.54 percent the day before.
