The S&P 500 was down 0.6% to 2,048.86 in midday trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7% to 17,780.55 and the Nasdaq was down 0.5% to 4,713.22
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond declined 2.9% to 1.96%.
The price of gold rose 0.7% to $1,217.30.
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Irvine-based Boot Barn Holdings Inc. was up 2.6% to $19.80 and a market cap of about $510 million. The western wear retailer estimated its December quarter sales would rise 13.1% to about $130 million, including a same store and ecommerce sales increase of about 7%, and on positive fourth quarter guidance.
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. fell by one-third to seven cents and a market cap of $5.7 million on news reports that it had hired a law firm to help it consider a potential bankruptcy filing.
