U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, halting a recent winning streak, as investors anxiously awaited Nvidia’s quarterly results and the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes from its latest policy meeting. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which recently hit their highest closing levels in more than three months, faced a setback, ending a five-day winning streak.
Roosevelt Bowman, senior investment strategist at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, noted that stocks were giving back some gains, but highlighted reduced uncertainty around the federal funds rate and interest rate volatility as supportive factors heading into the end of the year.
Big tech stocks, crucial contributors to the S&P 500’s gains so far this year, faced a crucial moment as Nvidia, a leading chip designer, prepared to report third-quarter results. The focus was not only on a strong revenue forecast, but also on the potential impact of expanding US restrictions on chip sales to China. Nvidia shares fell 1.8% and other mega-cap stocks, including Microsoft and Amazon.com, also saw declines.
Before Nvidia’s report, investors were looking to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting for information on the central bank’s monetary policy stance, especially after recent signs of easing consumer and producer prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were in negative territory as the market awaited crucial information.
Additionally, downbeat corporate updates from U.S. retailers, including Lowe’s, Best Buy and Kohl’s, painted a worrying picture for consumer spending. Lowe’s fell 2.8%, contributing to a 1.9% drop in the S&P 500 retail subindex.
As the week progressed with unclear economic data and low trading volumes ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, market dynamics were influenced by factors such as the fully accepted expectation that the Federal Reserve would hold interest rates on hold in December and speculation about a possible rate cut in March.
As of 11:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28%, the S&P 500 was down 0.39%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.86%. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, reflecting a cautious sentiment in the market.
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