US stocks tipped lower on Wednesday as investors tried to read the rate-cut runes and weighed a fresh batch of earnings reports for insight into the chance of a corporate America-spurred revival.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%, or about 50 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked down 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) edged down about 0.6%.
While stocks have notched a string of gains in recent days, the rally lost some steam as Federal Reserve policymaker Neel Kashkari signaled that rates are likely to stay at historic highs for a while. The Minneapolis Fed chief’s comment that a hike isn’t off the table either knocked hopes for an earlier easing in policy that had been buoyed by other Fed speakers. Fed officials Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson are slated to speak Wednesday.
Uncertainty about corporate earnings also gave some investors pause as the season entered its final stretch. While techs have mainly delivered on high expectations, the focus is now on whether other sectors can match up.
On Wednesday’s docket, Uber’s (UBER) forecast for a key bookings metric missed the mark, dragging its shares down almost 7%. Shopify (SHOP) shares plunged as much as 19% after the e-commerce platform forecast its slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years.
After Disney (DIS) beat on earnings but still disappointed Wall Street, results from Fox (FOXA) are poised to claim attention. In after hours, quarterly updates from AMC Entertainment (AMC) and Robinhood (HOOD) will be watched for signs of a meme stock-like surge.
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