US stocks fall as investor concerns grow over looming recession and debt ceiling fight

• US stocks fell on Thursday as investor concerns about a recession and the US debt ceiling linger.
• The US Treasury took extraordinary measures to meet the country's obligations after it hit the debt limit set by Congress.
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen believes the measures will stall a US default until June.

US stocks fell on Thursday as investor concerns linger about a potential recession and the US debt limit being reached.

Recession fears resurfaced after retail sales fell 1% in December, building off the 1% decline seen in November. Producer price index data also showed a drop in business activity in December. But the job market remains strong, as jobless claims fell unexpectedly to 190,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury said it hit the debt ceiling imposed by Congress on Thursday, and is now taking extraordinary measures, essentially accounting maneuvers, to fulfill its obligations.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said she expects the measures will stall a US default until around June, when pressure will be on Congress to raise the debt ceiling.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 3,898.85, down 0.76%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,044.56, down 0.76% (252.40 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 10,852.27, down 0.96%

Here's what else happened today:

• Celsius fell more than 10% after it lost a breach-of-contract lawsuit to rapper Flo Rida. The energy drink company has to pay him $82.6 million.
• Peter Thiel reportedly made $1.8 billion cashing out his eight-year crypto bet while at the same time he was touting the prospects for a massive surge higher in bitcoin. 
• CoinDesk is exploring a potential sale after owner Digital Currency Group was rocked by the turmoil in crypto markets in the wake of crypto exchange FTX's implosion, according to media reports.
• FTX CEO John Ray said the failed crypto exchange could be revived and resume normal operations as some shareholders still see it as a "viable business." 
• FTX's native token FTT surged more than 30% on after Ray's comments about the potential for restarting the crypto exchange.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.15% to $80.72 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped 1.46% to $86.22.
• Gold climbed 1.38% to $1,933.40 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose three basis points to 3.40%.
• Bitcoin rallied 1.39% to $21,097, while ether gained 1.96% to $1,557.