Wall Street today: The US benchmark indices like Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P dropped at the US market open on Thursday, 21 August 2025, as investors exercised caution ahead of the US Fed’s Jackson Hole meeting on Friday.
What is US Fed’s Jackson Hole Meeting?
The US Federal Reserve hosts an annual economic symposium, at which central bankers from around the world, academics, economic thinkers, policymakers, and journalists come to discuss the year’s economic ideas.
US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the event first at 8:00 a.m. (local time), which is 6:30 p.m. on 22 August 2025, for people watching from India.
This year’s Jackson Hole meeting is significant as this is likely to be Jerome Powell’s last meeting as the US Federal Reserve Chairman, as his term comes to an end with very little chance of him being reappointed to the position by US President Donald Trump.
Dow Jones Today
At 9:30 a.m. (EDT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29% to open at 44,808.21 points, compared to 44,938.31 points at the previous US market close. According to Marketwatch data, the index is now trading 0.22% lower at 44,838.59 points as of 11:28 a.m. (EDT).
Merck & Co. Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc., Amgen Inc., Travelers Cos. Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Chevron Corp., Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., and Verizon Communications Inc. were among the gainers on Thursday’s stock market session.
While other companies like Visa Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., NVIDIA Corp., Honeywell International Inc., Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., American Express Co., Apple Inc., 3M Co., Walt Laney Co., Nike Inc., Home Depot Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Salesforce Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Sherwin-Williams, Walmart Inc., and InternationalBusiness Machines Corp. were among the losers in the US market.
S&P 500 Today
The S&P 500 dropped 0.23% to open at 6,380.83 points on Thursday, compared to 6,395.78 points at the previous Wall Street close. The S&P500 index is trading 0.16% lower at 6,385.06 points as of 11:40 a.m. (EDT).
Companies like Paramount Skydance Corp., Nordson Corp., Packaging Corp. of America, Smurfit Westrock PLC, Hewlett Packard, Enterprise Co., Merck & Co. Inc., Bunge Global S.A., Dayforce Inc., International Paper Co., and NewmontCorp. were among the gainers on 21 August 2025.
Others like First Solar Inc., Walmart Inc., Lennox International Inc., Fortinet Inc., Enphase Energy Inc., D.R. Horton Inc., Allstate Corp., IQVIA Holdings Inc., Carrier Global Corp., and Dollar General Corp were among the losers, according to the Marketwatch data.
Nasdaq Today
The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.28% to 21,112.523 points at the opening bell, compared to 21,172.86 points at the previous market close in the US stock market. The tech-heavy index is trading 0.19% lower at 21,133.70 points as of 11:52 a.m. (EDT), according to Marketwatch data.
Aptorum Group Ltd., Protagenic Therapeutics Inc., Aethlon Medical Inc., Tharimmune Inc., Rent the Runway Inc., Immuneering Corp., Gaxos.ai Inc., Treasure Global Inc., Twin Disc Inc., and ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. were among the gainers on Wall Street.
Others like ModivCare Inc., Star Fashion Culture Holdings Ltd, Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc., Quhuo Ltd ADR, SU Group Holdings Ltd, Real Messenger Corp., Zhengye Biotechnology Holding Ltd, Moolec Science SA, enVVeno Medical Corp., and OceanPal Inc. were among the top laggards of the US benchmark index.
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