S&P 500, Dow retreat as investors await clues on Fed rates, data
KB Home falls after Q3 profit misses estimates
Apple edges down as data shows China sales drop in Aug
Ford, GM slide on Morgan Stanley downgrade
Indexes: Dow down 0.63%, S&P 500 down 0.18%, Nasdaq up 0.03%
Updates prices, details throughout
By Echo Wang
Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 edged lower on Wednesday, pulling back from recent record highs spurred by China'ssweeping stimulus package, as investors awaited further economic indicators and signals on upcoming interest rate cuts.
The three mainindexes were set formonthly gains after the Federal Reserve's rate cut on Sept. 18 boosted hopes of asoft landing. However, a weak consumer sentiment report on Tuesday raised concernsabout the labor market health.
"What happened in commodities and basic materials, etc., was quite a reaction to ... 'hey, what if China can get growing again?' And that kind of feeds into other areas, (and) it helps other economies," said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt in Atlanta.
The long-term Treasury bond yield US30YT=RR, US10YT=RR ticked higher on worries that looser financial conditions could reignite inflation. US/
Odds of a 50 basis point cut by the U.S. central bank at its November meeting have risento 57.4%, from a coin toss earlier in the week, the CME Group's FedWatch Tool showed.
As of 2:52 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 265.40 points, or 0.63%, to 41,942.82, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 10.09 points, or 0.18%, at 5,722.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 5.05 points, or 0.03%, at 18,079.57.
Sevenout of the 11 S&P 500 sectors fell, led by energy stocks .SPNY. Tech stocks .SPLRCT bucked the trend, supported by Nvidia's NVDA.O 2.15% gain.
The blue-chip Dow dipped after reaching record highs, weighed down by a 4.97% decline in Amgen AMGN.Oafter the drugmaker reported mixed data on two drugs, sparking concerns over increased competition.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq have risen about 20% so far this year, driven by expectations of rate cuts and optimism about artificialintelligence. However, the S&P 500 is trading at valuations significantly above long-termaverages.
"Valuations are fairly high right now,sentiment is fairly high," Martin said, noting that caution is creeping in. "It's hard to find bargains out there, because everything that has gotten hit, a lot of it has come back, and the market has broadened out."
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell in August, but declining mortgage rates and house prices could stimulate demand in the months ahead.
The main focus, however, will be on the weeklyjobless claims and the August U.S. personalconsumption expenditure (PCE) index, both set to be releasedlater in the week.
Remarks from Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, expected aftermarkets close, will also be closely examined. But attention will center on Fed ChairJerome Powell's speech at the New York Treasury Market Conference on Thursday.
Apple AAPL.O shares slipped 1.12%. Sales of foreign-branded smartphones, including iPhones, in China fell in August on an annual basis, data from a government-affiliated research firm showed.
Citigroup C.N, Bank of America BAC.N and JPMorgan & Chase JPM.N weighed on the broader bank index .SPXBK, which was down 0.84%.
KB Home KBH.N fell 4.82%after posting a downbeatthird-quarter profit.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N topped the S&P 500 with a 4.79% gain after Barclays' rating upgrade.
Ford F.N lost 4.09% and General Motors GM.N fell 4.99% to bottom the benchmark index after Morgan Stanley lowered its recommendations onthe automakers.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.37-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 345 new highs and 49 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 63 new highs and 89 new lows.
Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Additional Reportinng by EJohann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengalurul; Editing by Maju Samuel and Richard Chang
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
