Market finishes lower

NEW YORK — Wall Street extended its slide Thursday as a pair of economic reports carried a conflicting message to investors: The growing economy is fueling a job market recovery, but also allowing inflation to rise.

Anxiety over Iraq and interest rates has kept many investors on the sidelines for the past few weeks, and the latest data did little to lure buyers. Analysts say that until the end of the month, when the Federal Reserve takes action on rates and sovereignty is restored in Iraq, there will be little to drive the market forward.

“The market’s in a malaise,” said Larry Wachtel, market analyst with Wachovia Securities. “Once we get past the Fed meeting and the transfer of power in Iraq, and we get to second-quarter earnings, at least I’ll have something to hang my hat on. But until then, there’s nothing to spur me into action.”

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.06, or 0.02 percent, at 10,377.52.

The broader gauges also finished lower. The Nasdaq composite index slumped 14.56, or 0.7 percent, to 1,983.67, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 1.51, or 0.1 percent, to 1,132.05.

The Labor Department issued two reports Thursday. The good news was that fewer people signed up for jobless benefits last week. The bad news was that wholesale prices rose in May at the fastest pace in 14 months.

The 0.8 percent rise in the Producer Price Index — which measures prices of goods before they reach store shelves — was largely due to rising costs of energy and food.

Excluding those factors, “core” wholesale prices rose by a more modest 0.3 percent in May, higher than the 0.2 percent economists were expecting. Investors saw the inflationary reading as something that might change the Fed’s approach to rates.

Advancers outnumbered declining shares by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange.