By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — U.S. stocks closed lower after another set of data from the government raised concerns among investors about persistently high inflation, even though there are signs that it is slowing down.

At 9:44 AM ET, the index was at 0.7%. The was down 0.9%, the was at 1.4%, and the was at 243.

The , which shows how much companies are getting for their goods and services out of the factory, rose 11% in April, a tick lower than the 11.5% gain in March, as the monthly rise in prices slowed to 0.5% from 1.2% in March. This was consistent with the estimates. This was in line with the Wednesday consumer price index, which showed that prices increased less than the previous periods. Investors worry that continued inflation might prompt the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate policy.

The shares of Beyond Meat Inc After the announcement, (NASDAQ:) fell 27% Barclays (LON:) downgraded the faux meat maker to equal-weight from overweight, citing “limited visibility” on recovery after the company spent heavily on product launches and offered discounts.

Oil prices fell after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reduced its projection for global oil demand in 2015 due to Covid-19 lockdowns and the conflict in Eastern Europe. OPEC stated that it expects the global oil demand to increase by an average of 3.4 million barrels per day, down from a previous estimate of 3.7million barrels.

The price of crude oil was at $107.05 per barrel and was steady at $105.80, while it was flat. It fell 0.4% to $1845 per ounce.