Stocks Dip Day After Rally

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning after huge gains the day before. Technology and internet companies are taking some of the largest losses. The S&P 500 index is coming off its largest rally in eight months and has climbed nearly 4 percent this week. Deutsche Bank skidded after German authorities searched its offices on suspicion some of the bank's employees helped clients launder money.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index lost 8 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,735 at 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. It soared 2.4 percent Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 55 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,310. The Nasdaq composite shed 26 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,264. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 7 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,523.

Stocks surged after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested in a speech that the Fed might be almost done raising interest rates, and is willing to stop raising rates at least temporarily so it can assess the effects of the last few years of increases. Investors were happy to hear that, as they've been nervous that climbing interest rates will contribute to a damaging slowdown in economic growth. That fear is one of the major reasons behind the stock market's recent slide.

SEARCHED BANK: German authorities suspect that Deutsche Bank employees helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to launder hundreds of millions of euros. A prosecutor in Frankfurt said the investigation focuses on two employees and possibly other suspects. Deutsche Bank stock lost 3.6 percent to $9.53. It's down 50 percent so far this year.

CALL YOUR DOCTOR: Medical lab operator Quest Diagnostics sank 8.5 percent to $88.69 after it cut its annual profit and revenue forecasts. The company cited a host of problems including larger reserves and reduced testing volumes. Rival LabCorp fell 4 percent to $158.51.

CHIP CHIP, HOORAY: Qualcomm stock jumped 3.5 percent to $58.65 after Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said the company is close to resolving its long and costly dispute with Apple. Apple stopped making licensing fee payments to Qualcomm following a legal dispute between the companies, and later decided to stop using Qualcomm parts in some of its products. Apple slipped 0.7 percent to $179.72.

BONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.02 percent from 3.04 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude briefly dipped below $50 a barrel overnight, but Thursday morning was up 1.6 percent at $51.10 a barrel in New York. Brent crude rose 1.3 percent to $59.85 a barrel in London.

Energy companies also traded higher. The S&P 500 index of energy companies has dropped 12 percent over the last three months, worse than any of the other major market sectors. The S&P 500 itself has fallen about 6 percent over that time.

CURRENCY: The dollar slid to 113.38 yen from 113.53 yen. The euro dipped to $1.1368 from $1.1376.

OVERSEAS: European stocks rose following Wednesday's large gains in the U.S. The FTSE 100 in Britain and the French CAC 40 both rose 0.9 percent. Germany's DAX added 0.4 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.3 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.9 percent.

(BE)