Stocks wavered in afternoon trading on Wednesday, as losses for several Big Tech companies offset gains elsewhere in the market.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4% in afternoon trading, even though more stocks were rising than falling in the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 135 points, or 0.3%, as of 3:05 p.m. Eastern time. Both indexes set records on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.
Losses for tech heavyweights helped pull the broader market lower. Semiconductor giant Nvidia slipped 1.6%. Its huge value gives it outsized influence on market indexes. Microsoft fell 0.9%
Several personal computer makers added to Big Tech’s heavy weight on the market following their latest earnings reports.
HP sank 11.8% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for its current quarter. Dell slumped 11.9% after its latest quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street forecasts.
Gains for financial and health care companies helped counter Big Tech’s downward pull. Visa rose 0.9% and Thermo Fisher Scientific added 2.3%.
The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy 2.8% annual pace from July through September, according to the Commerce Department, leaving its original estimate of third-quarter growth unchanged. The growth was driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports.
The update follows a report on Tuesday from the Conference Board that said confidence among U.S. consumers improved in November, but not by as much as economists expected.
Consumers have been driving economic growth, but the latest round of earnings reports from retailers shows a mixed and more cautious picture.
Department store operator Nordstrom fell 8.5% after warning investors about a trend toward weakening sales that started in late October. Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters jumped 19.1% after beating analysts’ third-quarter financial forecasts. Weeks earlier, retail giant Target gave investors a discouraging forecast for the holiday season, while Walmart provided a more encouraging forecast.
Consumers, though resilient, are still facing pressure from inflation. The latest update from the U.S. government shows that inflation accelerated last month. The personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, rose to 2.3% in October from 2.1% in September.
Overall, the rate of inflation has been falling broadly since it peaked more than two years ago. The PCE, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, was just below 7.3% in June of 2022. Another measure of inflation, the consumer price index, peaked at 9.1% at the same time.
