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Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday, dragged down by technology stocks. Investors traded cautiously with an eye on producer-side inflation numbers, which are slated to be released on Thursday. Two of the three major stock indexes ended in the red, while one ended in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 37.83 points, or 0.1%, to close at 39,043.32. Eighteen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 12 ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 87.87 points, or 0.5%, to close at 16,177.77.
The S&P 500 slid 9.96 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,165.31. Seven of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) advanced 1.6%, 1% and 0.7%, respectively, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) declined 1.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 0.7% to 13.75. A total of 11.1 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 1.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1.07-to-1 ratio.
Tech Stocks Remain Volatile
A day after the tech sector rebounded on expectation of a major collaboration between two tech behemoths, it slid back into a stupor, becoming the S&P 500’s biggest losing sector. Per recent trends, chip stocks weighed down on the broader sector in general. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) lost 2.5% after snapping a 2-day losing streak in the previous session.
Market participants are eagerly awaiting NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA - Free Report) global GTC developer conference on artificial intelligence, slated to be held between Mar 18 and 21, to gauge the direction of the technology.
Investors are also keeping a keen watch on the Producer Price Index (PPI) report for February to see whether the numbers underscore the warm, albeit in line with expectations CPI numbers like last month.
Stocks of mega-cap growth stocks like tech usually seem overvalued if an economy is on the perilous path of a recession. While talks of a recession are currently on the back burner, with no clear signals from the Fed as to when the first rate-cut might be announced, the tech sector remains volatile. Per the CME FedWatch Tool, traders see a 65% chance of the first rate-cut coming in June.
Per a government report, for the week ending Mar 8, 2024, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 1.5 million barrels from the previous week.
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Stock Market News for Mar 14, 2024
Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday, dragged down by technology stocks. Investors traded cautiously with an eye on producer-side inflation numbers, which are slated to be released on Thursday. Two of the three major stock indexes ended in the red, while one ended in the green.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 37.83 points, or 0.1%, to close at 39,043.32. Eighteen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 12 ended in negative.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 87.87 points, or 0.5%, to close at 16,177.77.
The S&P 500 slid 9.96 points, or 0.2%, to close at 5,165.31. Seven of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) advanced 1.6%, 1% and 0.7%, respectively, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) declined 1.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 0.7% to 13.75. A total of 11.1 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 12 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 1.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1.07-to-1 ratio.
Tech Stocks Remain Volatile
A day after the tech sector rebounded on expectation of a major collaboration between two tech behemoths, it slid back into a stupor, becoming the S&P 500’s biggest losing sector. Per recent trends, chip stocks weighed down on the broader sector in general. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) lost 2.5% after snapping a 2-day losing streak in the previous session.
Market participants are eagerly awaiting NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA - Free Report) global GTC developer conference on artificial intelligence, slated to be held between Mar 18 and 21, to gauge the direction of the technology.
Investors are also keeping a keen watch on the Producer Price Index (PPI) report for February to see whether the numbers underscore the warm, albeit in line with expectations CPI numbers like last month.
Stocks of mega-cap growth stocks like tech usually seem overvalued if an economy is on the perilous path of a recession. While talks of a recession are currently on the back burner, with no clear signals from the Fed as to when the first rate-cut might be announced, the tech sector remains volatile. Per the CME FedWatch Tool, traders see a 65% chance of the first rate-cut coming in June.
Consequently, shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD - Free Report) and ON Semiconductor Corporation (ON - Free Report) lost 3.9% and 3.3%, respectively. Both currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
Per a government report, for the week ending Mar 8, 2024, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 1.5 million barrels from the previous week.