Advertisment
Stocks fell in light trading on Wednesday as investors took some risk off the table following big November gains.
The Dow Jones Industrials retreated 138.25 points to 44,722.06
The S&P 500 Index subtracted 22.89 points to 5,998.74, snapping a seven-day winning streak.
The NASDAQ Composite lost 115.1 points to 19.060.48.
Traders appeared to take profits on big technology names that have largely performed well this year, which can explain the Nasdaq’s underperformance. Nvidia, which has surged more than 168% in 2024, lost 1.6% in the session. Meta Platforms slid nearly 1% after rallying around 60% this year.
Elsewhere in tech, Dell and HP both dropped more than 11% after providing weak earnings guidance.
Still, it’s been a notable week as the Dow and S&P 500 rose to all-time highs. The Dow is now tracking to end the week around 1% higher, while the S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the NASDAQ Composite is up about 0.3%, on the week.
November trading, which has been defined by a postelection rally on the back of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, also concludes this week. The Dow has climbed more than 7% in November, on track for its biggest monthly gain of 2024. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each jumped more than 5%.
Investors followed the latest reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, released Wednesday morning. The closely watched inflation gauge rose 0.2% in October and 2.3% on an annualized basis, in line with expectations from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core measure increased 0.3% month over month and 2.8% compared with a year ago, also matching consensus forecasts.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury jumped, lowering yields to 4.25% from Tuesday’s 4.30%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices recovered a penny to $68.78 U.S. a barrel.
Prices for gold perked $17.30 an ounce to $2,638.60 U.S.
