U.S. stocks fell after a report said inflation is unexpectedly worsening for Americans.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent Wednesday, though it had been on track for a much worse loss of 1.1 percent at the start of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite wound up little changed.

Stocks pared their losses through the day as oil prices eased. Treasury yields leaped to crank up the pressure on financial markets after the morning’s inflation report showed an unexpected acceleration for January. That reinforced bets the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 fell 16.53 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,051.97.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 225.09 points, or 0.5 percent, to 44,368.56.

The Nasdaq composite rose 6.09 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 19,649.95.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.81 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,255.89.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 25.98 points, or 0.4 percent.

The Dow is up 65.16 points, or 0.1 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 126.55 points, or 0.6 percent.

The Russell 2000 is down 23.82 points, or 1 percent.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 170.34 points, or 2.9 percent.

The Dow is up 1,824.34 points, or 4.3 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 339.16 points, or 1.8 percent.

The Russell 2000 is up 25.73 points, or 1.2 percent.

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