US stocks decline after unexpectedly high GDP data, Fed speculation

U.S. stocks retreated, pressing down the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its most substantial loss in two months, amid speculation the Federal Reserve may scale back stimulus after larger-than-estimated GDP growth overshadowed decision by the European Central Bank to cut interest rate.

The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the most since Aug. 27, to 1,747.15 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 152.90 points, or 1%, to 15,593.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.9% for the biggest decline in a month. About 7.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, the busiest trading since September 20.

“There was some negative sentiment coming in today,” said to Wall Street Journal, Paul Powers, head of U.S. equity sales trading at Raymond James. Then investors had to deal with the ECB rate cut and worries about overseas growth, as well as the U.S. GDP data, he said. “That gave people pause,” Mr. Powers said, and a reason to “cash in” some gains.

Gross domestic product rose at a 2.8% annualized rate in the third quarter, led by the biggest increase in inventories in more than a year as household purchases and business investment slowed, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. Predictions pointed to 2%.

Concerns between investors rose that the Fed could pare its bond-purchasing program as soon as this year if economic data strengthens.

In corporate news, the trading debut of Twitter, the biggest technology initial public offering since Facebook last year, offered investors a distraction from the debate over Fed policy. Twitter jumped 73% before closing.

Qualcomm sank 3.8% to $67.09. Sales for the three months ending in December will be $6.3 billion to $6.9 billion, the company said. Analysts on average had predicted revenue of $7.01 billion for the period.

Tesla Motors declined 7.5% after the electric-car maker said it was investigating a fire involving one of its Model S sedans, which is the third reported fire within a month.

SolarCity Corp. lost 17% to $49.69. The second-largest U.S. solar company predicted a loss of as much as 65 cents a share for the final three months of 2013, compared with the average analyst estimate of 54 cents a share.