Stocks ended another shaky day lower on Wall Street after Wednesday trading and came on the heels of a highly anticipated report on inflation that turned out to be even worse than expected.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% after tumbling as much as 1.6% earlier. The Nasdaq slipped 0.2% to erase nearly all of an early loss of 2.1%. Stocks took a few U-turns through the day, as has become the norm on Wall Street this tumultuous year.

They were following the lead of Treasury yields in the bond market, which initially surged on expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates drastically to slow the nation's skyrocketing inflation.

Inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response to it have been at the center of Wall Street’s sell-off this year. Wednesday’s discouraging data showed that inflation is not only still very high, but it’s also getting worse.

“For four or five months now, we’ve been counting on peak inflation and we’ve been disappointed consistently,” said John Lynch, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management.