NEW YORK: The tech-laden Nasdaq fell on Wednesday as rising US Treasury yields hit market-moving growth stocks, while investors awaited more data this week for clues on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts.
Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced, but the heavyweight technology sector was down 1.4%.
The yield on treasury notes ticked higher across the board, pressuring rate-sensitive megacaps such as Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Apple, which fell between 3.1% and 0.9%.
Chip stocks such as Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology fell over 4% each, steering a 2.6% decline in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index.
The benchmark S&P 500 climbed to a fresh record high on Tuesday after 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 taken solace in the fact that the Fed still sees credit conditions easing in 2024, while the economy remains resilient.
“Traders weren’t thrilled with yesterday’s US CPI (Consumer Price Index) report, but weren’t despondent either,” said Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates strategist at Macquarie.
The Fed is still likely to ease at mid-year, but next week’s meeting may extend the “hawkish” wait-and-see mode from central bank Chair Jerome Powell, he said.
While the central bank is widely expected to stay put on interest rates in March, traders now see a 65% chance of the first rate cut coming in June, the CME FedWatch Tool showed.
Producer prices data for February is due on Thursday, which could offer more insights into inflation in the world’s largest economy, ahead of the Fed meeting next week.
Investors are also awaiting the GTC developer conference that runs from March 18 to 21 for announcements related to artificial intelligence.
At 11:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 147.19 points, or 0.38%, at 39,152.68, the S&P 500 was down 7.15 points, or 0.14%, at 5,168.12 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 89.49 points, or 0.55%, at 16,176.15.
Among others, Tesla shed 2.7% after brokerage Wells Fargo downgraded the electric-vehicle maker to “underweight” from “equal weight”.
Dollar Tree slumped 14.3% 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 3.1%.
McDonald’s fell 3.0% after its CFO said the fast-food giant’s international sales could fall sequentially in the current quarter, pressured by the conflict in the Middle East and demand weakness in China.
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