Wall Street stocks retreated early Thursday, extending the pattern of the last two sessions following lackluster US economic data.

US equities have been on the back foot much of this holiday-shortened week following reports showing a weakening in the labor market and in the services and manufacturing sector.

Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment described the dynamic as a strange period with low trading volumes in light of Friday's holiday, which coincides with the release of the key government jobs report for March.

"This is a wait and see moment for the market," Sarhan said. "You have economic data coming out, which is important, but right after that, you've got earnings."

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 33,367.79, down 0.3 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.5 percent to 4,071.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8 percent to 11,902.75.

The head of the IMF warned that global growth would probably dip below three percent in 2023.

"With rising geopolitical tensions and still-high inflation, a robust recovery remains elusive," Kristalina Georgieva said in prepared remarks ahead of the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings next week.