S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both down about 0.4%, while the Dow fell more than 1%.
Healthcare was the weakest S&P 500 sector; energy led gainers.
The Euro STOXX 600 index was off about 0.2%.
The dollar dipped; gold slipped; bitcoin fell about 1%; U.S. crude rose more than 1%.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield edged up to about 4.79%.
NFIB says small business optimism fell in August
The mood among small business owners in the U.S. ticked a bit lower in August, logging the fifth monthly decline this year, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
NFIB's Optimism Index shaved off 1.1 points to 98.7, remaining just a hair above 98, its long-term average.
The Uncertainty Index cooled a bit, dipping 2 points to 89, but still more than 30% north of its long-term average.
"Uncertainty remains elevated among small business owners as they face a mixed set of challenges with weakened sales, supply chain disruptions, and inflation pressures," writes Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB's chief economist. "While expectations for the overall economy dimmed, Main Street owners remain largely positive in the health of their own businesses."
Digging deeper, forward expectations regarding business conditions deteriorated, sales worsened, inflation fears eased, and 61% of survey participants reported supply chain disruptions. Just 12% said that now is a good time to expand their business.
In August, 35% of respondents said they had job openings that they couldn't fill. Of those, 82% reported no qualified applicants.
While "the number of responses the survey typically receives has plunged in recent years, raising big questions over its reliability," according to Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, Allen adds that "the hiring intentions index (is) a remarkably reliable leading indicator of growth in private payrolls when advanced by four months."
"Taken at face value, this index is consistent with an initial private payroll print of around 150K in December, far stronger than the recent trend of 75K or so," Allen says.
Labor quality was identified as the "most important problem," with inflation tied neck and neck for second place.
Nearly one-third of business owners reported raising average selling prices.
The graphic below shows intentions to raise prices are higher than they've been in over a year, despite the fact that inflation worries (and inflation itself) have been steadily on the wane.
"Roughly one in three of the firms surveyed are raising prices or intend to," says Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. "The report still shows persistent upward pressure on prices and labor shortages."
"Price increases are as widespread as they have been since early 2023."
Finally, it should be noted that the NFIB is a politically active membership organization, whose PAC skews heavily Republican, according to the Center for Responsive Politics/opensecrets.org.
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