Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange on August 20, 2025.
NYSE
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped on Wednesday, pressured by a broad decline in tech. Investors additionally weighed combined retail earnings outcomes and the Federal Reserve’s newest assembly minutes launch.
The broad market index slipped 0.24% to shut at 6,395.78, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq misplaced 0.67% and settled at 21,172.86. Wednesday marked a fourth day of losses for the S&P 500 and a second unfavorable session for the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, including 16.04 factors, or 0.04%, and settling at 44,938.31.
Investors continued to take earnings from a number of heavyweight know-how and semiconductor names, fanning considerations about their excessive valuations and the power of the synthetic intelligence commerce long run. Nvidia ended the session marginally decrease, whereas Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom every misplaced round 1%. Shares of Palantir declined about 1%, and Intel dropped about 7%. Mega-cap tech firms Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms additionally declined.
“It’s not a surprise to see some investors taking profits in tech stocks, which have had an incredibly strong run – with some up over 80% since the early April lows. Market volume in general is typically quite sparse in late August leading to wider swings than fundamentals would warrant,” mentioned Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth.
On the earnings entrance, Target shares dropped 6% after the retailer reported another decline in sales and introduced a brand new CEO who will step into the function on Feb. 1. Lowe’s, in the meantime, edged increased after the house enchancment retailer’s earnings beat expectations.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July assembly launched Wednesday showed that central bankers expressed concerns concerning the state of the labor market and inflation, although most agreed that it was too quickly to decrease rates of interest. At the time, policymakers as soon as extra held regular on rates of interest, however Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented, marking the primary time two voting Fed officers have achieved so since 1993.
“Participants generally pointed to risks to both sides of the Committee’s dual mandate, emphasizing upside risk to inflation and downside risk to employment,” the minutes famous. While “a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks” a pair noticed “downside risk to employment the more salient risk.”
The launch of the minutes come forward of remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, which buyers will monitor for insights into the trail of rates of interest. Fed funds futures are pricing in a greater than 80% probability of the central financial institution chopping rates of interest at its subsequent coverage gathering in September, based on CME’s FedWatch tool.
“If Powell’s language is more hawkish, that could pressure tech stocks even further, as a continuation of these elevated interest rates is generally a headwind for the tech sector,” Schleif mentioned.