The Dow Jones and S&P 500 lost ground in today’s session, retreating from their previous records.
THE S&P 500 fell 0.19%, closing at 5,722.26 units, while the Dow It fell 293.47 points, or 0.7%, to 41,914.75, under pressure from Amgen, whose shares lost more than 5%. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 hit new highs earlier in today’s session, but the Dow reversed course, ending a four-day rally. Nasdaq closed with a marginal increase of 0.04%, at 18,082.21 points.
Losers included General Motors and Ford, which fell 5% and 4%, respectively, after being downgraded by Morgan Stanley. Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors fell into negative territory, dragged down by falling energy prices. Chevron shares fell 2%.
Technology emerged as the market’s bright spot. Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose more than 4% after being upgraded by Barclays, citing strong demand for AI-powered data centers. Chip giant Nvidia Corp. rose about 2%, lifting its market capitalization to more than $3 trillion.
However, all three of Wall Street’s major stock indexes are expected to end September higher, although concerns about the direction of the US economy remain. A big rate cut by the Federal Reserve finally helped the S&P 500 avoid a traditionally weak September.
“Equities tend to perform strongly when the Fed cuts interest rates while the U.S. economy is still growing. But how successful the Fed is in bringing the economy to a soft landing is important in determining the outlook for various asset classes,” notes Solita Markelli, chief investment officer at UBS.
On a macro level, new home sales in the US fell 4.7% in August compared to July, while all eyes will turn to jobless claims data tomorrow.