After reaching a nine-year high at the beginning of the week, stocks have slid the last three sessions, giving up about three tenths of a percent on Thursday. Today's pullback would have been larger had VJC (+6.9%) not hit its trading ceiling for a third day, contributing a point to the index.
Energy tickers, such as GAS (-1.5%) and PVD (-0.9%), led decliners as the price of Brent crude oil dropped in Asian trading today and has struggled to break through resistance at USD57/barrel.