Wall Street had a lackluster start on Wednesday, with the tech-laden Nasdaq bearing the brunt as U.S. Treasury yields rose, while investors awaited more data for clues on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts.
The yield on treasury notes ticked higher across the board, pressuring rate-sensitive megacaps such as Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Apple, which lost between 0.9% and 2.9%.
Chips stocks such as Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom also fell, steering a 1.7% decline in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index.
The S&P 500 technology sector led sectoral declines, dropping 1.2%, while the energy sector added 1.8%, tracking higher crude prices.
The benchmark S&P 500 climbed to a fresh record high on Tuesday as shares of Oracle surged and slightly hot consumer price data failed to dampen hopes of rate cuts in the coming months.
Despite inflation being well above the central bank’s 2% target, investors have found consolation in the fact that the Fed still sees credit conditions easing in 2024, while the economy remains resilient.
Wall St slips as investors brace for inflation data
“Investors are taking a bit of a step back today after yesterday’s run and are looking forward to the Fed’s meeting next week,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.
Focus at the March 20 meeting is likely to be on whether the Fed still thinks inflation is on a downward path, Nolte said.
While the central bank is widely expected to stay put on rates in March, traders now see a 65% chance of the first rate cut coming in June, the CME FedWatch Tool showed.
On tap later this week is economic data that includes the February producer prices on Thursday, which could offer more insight into inflation in the world’s largest economy.
At 9:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 54.74 points, or 0.14%, at 39,060.23, the S&P 500 was down 7.63 points, or 0.15%, at 5,167.64, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 79.22 points, or 0.49%, at 16,186.42.
Among others, Tesla shed 1.9% after brokerage Wells Fargo downgraded the electric-vehicle maker to “underweight” from “equal weight”.
Dollar Tree lost 13.4% after the discount chain store group said it would close nearly 1,000 stores and incurred a net loss in the previous quarter, hurt by an over-$1 billion goodwill impairment charge. Peer Dollar General also slid 1.5%.
Intel shed 0.9% after a report that the Pentagon had pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a chip grant to the company.
Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital and Bit Digital added 1.3% to 3.8% as bitcoin hit a fresh record high.
GE HealthCare Technologies was down 3.8% as General Electric is to cut its stake in the medical equipment firm.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.64-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.91-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 37 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 49 new lows.
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