Wall Street dips on data, earnings

US stocks have closed lower, stopping the streak of consecutive closing highs for both the Dow and S&P 500 at two days.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 101.47 points, or 0.61%, to 16,613.97.

The broad-based S&P 500 weakened 8.93 points, or 0.47%, to 1,888.52, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 29.54 points, or 0.72%, to 4,100.63.

The weakness was largely driven by mixed earnings results, with retail giant Macy's announcing a sales decline despite a lift in profit in the first quarter. Elsewhere, equipment maker Deere & Company topped earnings expectations but trimmed guidance.

The news pushed Deere stock down 2%, while Macy's was broadly flat.

Also dampening the positive mood was a larger-than-expected rise in producer price inflation, which is typically a precursor to a lift in the consumer price index.

While the PPI lift has killed off talk about deflation, it has also spurred expectations of interest rates rising earlier, even if the first move from the US Federal Reserve still won't be until next year.

Among sectors, banks were a laggard as yields on the 10-year Treasury note hit a seven-month low, while construction firms and housing-focussed sectors also lost significant round ahead of housing data later in the week.

Meanwhile, M&A activity continued to gain momentum as Yahoo paid an undisclosed amount to claim control of messaging app Blink.