Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York yesterday. United States stocks opened slightly lower as stronger-than-expected retail sales data were offset by a report showing wholesale inflation rose more than expected. - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters):

United States stocks fell yesterday as doubts grew about a plan by global central banks to unfreeze credit markets, and data showed a higher-than-expected rise in wholesale inflation last month.

Adding to the pessimism were earnings from Lehman Brothers, which failed to ease concerns about the impact of the credit crisis on the financial sector.

Key interbank lending rates showed only a slight reaction to the plan by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to ease lending in credit markets that have tightened in response to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. Tensions about the plan remained and analysts said any return to normality will be a protracted process.

The joint effort, announced on Wednesday, came a day after Wall Street plunged in reaction to the Fed's modest quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut.

"We're still grappling with credit issues, the world plan. I'm not sure that's really resonating with people yet," said Warren Simpson, managing director at Stephens Capital Management in Little Rock, Arkansas.