Stan Choe

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - The Dow Jones industrial average erased its gain for the year on Thursday, part of a pullback for stock indexes as Treasury yields continued their upward march.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 72 points, or 0.4%, to 19,732.40. That puts the Dow down about 32 points for the year and will makes this the fifth straight day of losses. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.4% to 2,263.69. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.3% to 5,540.08.

Four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Stocks have slowed in 2017 following an electrifying jump higher since Election Day. Investors are waiting to see what a Donald Trump presidency will really mean for stocks. They’ve already seen the optimistic case, as shown in the nearly 6% jump for the S&P 500 since Donald Trump’s surprise victory of the White House, propelled by expectations for lower taxes and less regulation on businesses.

But on the possible downside, increased tariffs or trade restrictions could mean drops in profits for big U.S. companies.

“The stock market seems to be perched like a tightrope walker, balanced on the center, but there are a couple hundred-pound weights on each end of the balancing pole,” says Rich Weiss, senior portfolio manager at American Century.

Even with all those uncertainties, the market has remained relatively calm. The S&P 500 hasn’t had a day where it’s swung by 1%, either up or down, since early December. And the VIX index, which professional investors use to measure nervousness of the market, is still about 50% lower than where it was a year ago. “Irrational complacency,” Weiss says.

Bond yields continued their march higher, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.47% from 2.43% late Wednesday. Yields have generally been climbing since Election Day on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will spur more inflation and economic growth. The 10-year yield is still below its perch above 2.60% that it reached in mid-December, but it’s well above the 2.09% yield it was at a year ago.

Reports have shown that the U.S. economy has been improving recently, and the latest on Thursday showed encouraging signs for the housing and labor markets. The fewest number of workers sought unemployment claims last week in 43 years, a sign that corporate layoffs are subsiding.

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A separate report showed that homebuilders broke ground on more new homes in December, capping a solid 2016 for the industry. Developers began work on the most new homes and apartments since 2007.

A stronger economy could sway the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly. It has raised rates twice since 2015 after keeping them at record lows near zero since 2008.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report from Tokyo.