‘It doesn’t matter’

Good afternoon. Here's what you need to know to end your day.

The economy may be strong enough to allow the Fed to hold off reducing interest rates, with U.S. stores and factories showing a pickup in activity last month. Retailers showed a broad-based gain, and figures for the past two months were revised higher, while manufacturing output increased for the first time this year. Stocks pared losses late in the day but ended down, with tech leading the declines.