Selling's not over on Wall Street

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks inched lower Thursday morning as investors weighed spiking oil prices, ho-hum May retail sales and a jump in Treasury bond yields that raised new worries about interest rates.

But the declines were minimal and Wall Street showed some signs of stabilizing after a two-day selloff that took the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 200 points.

The 30-share Dow (down 13.33 to 13,452.34, Charts) lost a few points in the early going. The broader S&P 500 index (down 3.65 to 1,513.73, Charts) gave up 0.3 percent and the tech-driven Nasdaq composite (down 5.26 to 2,581.92, Charts) also slid about 0.3 percent.

The Russell 2000 (down 3.56 to 837.65, Charts) small-cap index lost 0.4 percent.

Stocks fell sharply the last two sessions as investors mulled the prospect of higher interest rates, due to cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials, signs of rising inflation and surging borrowing costs both at home and abroad.

But after a two-day decline, the selling lost momentum Thursday, with investors taking a more measured response to the day's news.

Treasury prices slumped on bets that the Federal Reserve is more likely to boost rates before cutting them. The slide boosted the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.04 percent from 4.96 percent late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Thursday marked the first time the 10-year note had surpassed 5.0 percent, a key psychological level, since last summer.

In currency trading, the dollar rose versus the euro and the yen.

Stock investors also parsed a variety of May sales reports from the nation's retail chains. In general, sales rebounded modestly from April's weakness, thanks to warmer weather and early summer discounts. But spiking gas prices took a chunk out of any recovery.

Among the highlights: No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores (down $0.44 to $50.32, Charts, Fortune 500) said sales at stores open a year or more, a retail sales measure known as same-store sales, rose 1.1 percent, at the low end of its forecast and short of analysts' estimates. Shares of the Dow component lost less than 1 percent.

Rival Costco (up $0.26 to $56.08, Charts, Fortune 500) said same-store sales jumped 7 percent, topping forecasts and sending the stock a bit higher.

In economic news, April wholesale inventories rose 0.3 percent, as expected, after climbing 0.4 percent the previous month.

U.S. light crude oil for July delivery jumped $1.33 to $67.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange over concerns about exports from the Middle East after Turkish troops raided Iraq.

COMEX gold for July delivery fell $2.30 to $672.30 an ounce.