Molotov cocktail explodes in a Chilean high school, injuring at least 35 students

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A homemade firebomb exploded inside a public high school in Chile on Wednesday, igniting a blaze that injured at least 35 students, several critically, firefighters said.

A group of students at the school in central Santiago, the capital, were making Molotov cocktails in the bathroom to be thrown at a protest later when one exploded, said police official Lt. Col. Fernando Albornoz. It was not clear what caused the blast.

Capt. José Manuel Estefane with the fire department said 11 students at the prestigious Barros Arana National Boarding School were hospitalized in serious condition, with burns affecting their respiratory systems.

The rest of the students had lighter burns, authorities added, while a teacher trying to help the students collapsed. Firefighters quickly contained the blaze and blocked roads around the scene.

Police said the students were planning a street demonstration later that day in Santiago, which has a history of student activism stretching back decades. During major social unrest in 2011 and 2019, students at high schools and universities took a confrontational stance against the government and business elite to demand political reforms.

Firefighters respond to a fire at the Barros Arana National Boarding School (INBA) in Santiago Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Security forces stand outside the Barros Arana National Boarding School after a fire at the school in Santiago Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Authorities head inside the Barros Arana National Boarding School after a fire in Santiago Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A police officer stands outside the Barros Arana National Boarding School as authorities respond to a fire in Santiago Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Students are escorted by security forces out of the Barros Arana National Boarding School (INBA) due to a fire in Santiago Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Wednesday as some more steam comes out of Wall Street’s huge, record-breaking rally.

The S&P 500 was 1% lower in afternoon trading. It’s coming off two small losses since setting an all-time high on Friday and is on track for its first three-day losing streak since early September. The pullback follows a superb run where the index rallied to six straight winning weeks, its longest such streak of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 431 points, or 1%, as of 1:11 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% lower as Big Tech stocks were among the market's heaviest weights.

McDonald’s helped pull the market lower and dropped 5.3% after federal health officials linked its Quarter Pounder burgers with an E. coli outbreak that’s affected at least 49 people in 10 states. Investigators are still trying to find what specific ingredient is contaminated, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said McDonald’s stopped using fresh slivered onions and quarter pound beef patties in several states while the investigation is ongoing.

Coca-Cola fell 2% even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company benefited from higher prices for its products, but a lot of focus was on how much product the company shipped during the quarter, and that fell short of some estimates.

Boston Scientific also weakened despite delivering better-than-expected quarterly results. It fell 2.1% after saying it's temporarily pausing its trial of a treatment for persistent atrial fibrillation to assess “a few unanticipated observations.” The medical technology company said it intends to resume enrollment in the near term.

Boeing sank 2.4% in what could be one of the most consequential days in years for the troubled aerospace manufacturer.

The company reported a loss of more than $6 billion for the latest quarter, as it waits to see the results of a vote by machinists later in the day that could end a strike that’s crippled aircraft production for more than a month. Boeing stock has lost 40% this year.

Helping to keep the losses for indexes in check was AT&T, which rose 3.2% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected

Texas Instruments climbed 3.6% after the semiconductor company reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. While revenue from industrial users declined from the prior quarter, CEO Haviv Ilan said all other end markets grew.

Northern Trust rallied 7.8% after likewise topping analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue in the latest quarter.

U.S. stocks have generally been slowing their record-breaking momentum this week under increasing pressure from rising Treasury yields.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose again Wednesday to 4.23% from 4.21% late Tuesday and from just 4.08% Friday. Higher yields for Treasurys can make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks, which critics say already look too expensive after they rose faster than corporate profits.

Treasury yields have been climbing after a raft of reports have shown the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. That’s good news for Wall Street, because it bolsters hopes that the economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without the painful recession that many had worried was inevitable.

Traders are now largely expecting the Fed to cut its main interest rate by half a percentage point more through the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. A month ago, some of those same traders were betting on the federal funds rate ending the year as much as half a percentage point lower than that.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% despite a surge for Tokyo Metro Co.’s stock in Japan’s largest market debut since SoftBank Corp. went public in 2018.

Chinese markets rose for a second day after the central bank cut its one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rates on Monday. Indexes rose 1.3% in Hong Kong and 0.5% in Shanghai, while European markets were modestly lower.

AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

A train arrives at the Wall Street subway station in New York's Financial District on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

A banner for LATAM Airlines hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

A banner for LATAM Airlines hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

A currency trader works near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)