Wall Street's strong start to the year slows

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s strong start to the year slowed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its latest all-time high for its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 466 points, or 0.9%, from its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.2%.

Some of the market’s sharpest drops hit industries that President Donald Trump targeted with criticism on his social media network. Homebuilders fell sharply, for example, after Trump suggested moves to prevent large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, in hopes of making it more affordable for people to buy houses.

The potential removal from the market of some buyers for homes sent D.R. Horton down 3.6% and PulteGroup 3.2% lower. Blackstone, a large investment company, briefly fell more than 9%, before paring its loss to 5.6%.

Moves across the rest of the U.S. stock market were more modest, including for Warner Bros. Discovery after it again rejected a buyout bid from Paramount and told its shareholders to stick with a rival offer from Netflix.

Warner Bros. Discovery rose 0.4%, while Paramount Skydance fell 1% and Netflix added 0.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points to 6,920.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 466.00 to 48,996.08, and the Nasdaq composite rose 37.10 to 23,584.27.

In the oil market, crude prices fell after Trump said that Venezuela would provide 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude dropped 2% to $55.99. Brent crude, the international standard, fell a more modest 1.2% to settle at $59.96 per barrel.

Any additional oil flowing from Venezuela would push down on crude prices by increasing their supplies. Prices for oil have swung this week following Trump’s weekend ouster of the president of Venezuela, which is likely sitting on some of the largest deposits of petroleum in the world.

Oil prices had already fallen back to where they were in 2021, before Trump’s move against Venezuela, because of expectations for plentiful supplies. To pull much more oil from Venezuela’s ground would likely require big investments to improve aging infrastructure.

In the bond market, Treasury yields swung following several mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One of the most impactful said that growth for U.S. retailers, finance companies and other businesses in the services sector accelerated by more last month than economists expected.

Not only that, the report from the Institute for Supply Management also said that a measure of inflation eased to its lowest level since March.

To be sure, company executives are still saying they’re feeling pressures from inflation and an uncertain economy. “In general, business is flat,” one business in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry told the ISM. “Value brands are still experiencing higher demand. But premium brands struggle to maintain market share.”

But any improvements will nevertheless sound good to officials at the Federal Reserve, who are trying to shore up the job market while pushing down on inflation, which has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target.

Separate reports Thursday on the job market offered a mixed view. One said that employers cut back on the number of job openings they were advertising, while a second suggested that employers outside of the government added 41,000 more jobs last month than they cut.

A much more comprehensive look at the U.S. job market will arrive on Friday from the U.S. Labor Department.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.14% from 4.18% late Tuesday following the economic reports. But the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, was steadier. It held at 3.47%, where it was late Tuesday.

The hope on Wall Street is that the economy remains solid enough to avoid a recession but not so strong that it keeps the Fed from cutting interest rates. The Fed cut its main interest rate three times last year to shore up the slowing job market, but it’s indicated fewer cuts may be ahead because inflation remains high.

Traders are betting on a less than 12% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting later this month. That’s down slightly from the day before, according to data from CME Group.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed among some sharp moves across Europe and Asia.

Indexes dropped 0.7% in London, 0.9% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Tokyo, while rising 0.6% in Seoul.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

Options trader Joseph D'Arrigo works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Joseph Stevens works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Anthony Spina works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Steven Rodriguez works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's stock prices at a securities firm Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused rapper Pooh Shiesty and eight others of robbing three men at gunpoint and kidnapping them earlier this year in Texas following a contract dispute involving rapper Gucci Mane 's record label.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas declined to name the victims and an FBI affidavit attached to a criminal complaint only refers to them by their initials. One victim, R.D., is described as the owner of 1017 Records, the label belonging to Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radric Delantic Davis.

“The victims in this case came to Dallas to conduct legitimate business and they were met with firearms and violence,” Ryan Raybould, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, where the complaint was filed, said at a news conference Thursday.

Publicists for Gucci Mane didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

The alleged confrontation happened Jan. 10 after the three victims flew to Dallas for what they thought was a business meeting at a music studio, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors said Pooh Shiesty, whose legal is name Lontrell Williams Jr., arranged the meeting, allegedly to discuss the terms of his contract with 1017 Records.

“Once these three men were inside the recording studio, Williams Jr. and eight co-conspirators — several of whom traveled from Memphis, Tennessee — executed a coordinated, armed takeover,” said Raybould, who described Pooh Shiesty as the “ringleader."

Raybould said eight of the nine were arrested Wednesday. In Tennessee, the FBI in Memphis said Wednesday that it went to a home in the suburb of Cordova to serve court-approved warrants. Property records show it is owned by Pooh Shiesty.

Raybould described the three victims as music industry professionals. In the affidavit, the other two victims are referred to by the initials M.M. and B.P.

The affidavit said that Pooh Shiesty had asked to speak with the record label owner privately in a recording room. The label owner then entered the room with Pooh Shiesty, Pooh Shiesty's father and rapper Big30, whose legal name is Rodney Wright. Both Lontrell Williams Sr. and Wright are also defendants.

Pooh Shiesty produced contract termination paperwork and told the label owner to sign. They argued and Pooh Shiesty pulled what appeared to be an AK-style pistol and forced him to sign. Pooh Shiesty then took the man's wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash, the affidavit said.

When they left the room, the other defendants produced firearms and demanded property from the other two victims, the affidavit said, and the man referred to as M.M. was choked to near unconsciousness.

The affidavit said Wright blocked the studio door with his body to prevent the victims from leaving.

Messages to Wright and his label were not immediately returned Thursday. Contact information for Lontrell Williams Sr. could not immediately be found. A number listed for him was not in service. The number listed for the house in Cordova was also not in service.

Pooh Shiesty didn’t immediately return an emailed request for comment. At the time of the alleged confrontation in Texas, he was on home confinement for a prior firearms conspiracy conviction out of Florida and was required to wear an electronic monitoring device, prosecutors said.

Investigators used data from the device, plus surveillance videos, cell phone records and images posted on social media, as part of their probe, the affidavit said.

Bradford Cohen, an attorney for Pooh Shiesty in that firearms case, did not immediately reply to an email and phone call for comment.

Gucci Mane is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta rappers T.I. and Jeezy. He emerged in the mid-2000s with his breakout single “Icy” and went on to build a vast catalog. He has also helped launch or develop artists including Young Thug and earned a Grammy nomination for his appearing on Lizzo’s song “Exactly How I Feel.”

Gucci Maine's career has also been marked by legal troubles and personal struggles. In the 2000s and early 2010s, he faced multiple arrests on charges including drug possession, assault and probation violations. In 2014, he was sentenced in a federal firearms case and was released from prison in 2016.

His 2017 memoir, “The Autobiography of Gucci Mane,” reflects on his evolution as a music artist and personal struggles such as being diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In recent years, he has publicly emphasized sobriety and stability.

This story has been corrected to show that details came from an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint, not an indictment.

Associated Press reporters Adrian Sainz in Memphis and Jonathan Landrum Jr. in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

FILE - Gucci Mane performs during the Festival d'ete de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada on July 12, 2019. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Gucci Mane performs at the Essence Festival in New Orleans on July 1, 2023. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)