Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on August 20, 2025.
NYSE
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dipped on Wednesday, pressured by a broad decline in tech. Investors also weighed mixed retail earnings results and the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes release.
The broad market index slipped 0.24% to close at 6,395.78, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.67% and settled at 21,172.86. Wednesday marked a fourth day of losses for the S&P 500 and a second negative session for the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the outlier, adding 16.04 points, or 0.04%, and settling at 44,938.31.
Investors continued to take profits from several heavyweight technology and semiconductor names, fanning concerns about their high valuations and the strength of the artificial intelligence trade longer term. Nvidia ended the session marginally lower, while Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom each lost around 1%. Shares of Palantir declined about 1%, and Intel dropped about 7%. Mega-cap tech companies Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms also declined.
“It’s not a surprise to see some investors taking profits in tech stocks, which have had an incredibly strong run – with some up over 80% since the early April lows. Market volume in general is typically quite sparse in late August leading to wider swings than fundamentals would warrant,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth.
On the earnings front, Target shares dropped 6% after the retailer reported another decline in sales and announced a new CEO who will step into the role on Feb. 1. Lowe’s, meanwhile, edged higher after the home improvement retailer’s earnings beat expectations.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting released Wednesday showed that central bankers expressed concerns about the state of the labor market and inflation, though most agreed that it was too soon to lower interest rates. At the time, policymakers once more held steady on interest rates, but Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented, marking the first time two voting Fed officials have done so since 1993.
“Participants generally pointed to risks to both sides of the Committee’s dual mandate, emphasizing upside risk to inflation and downside risk to employment,” the minutes noted. While “a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks” a couple saw “downside risk to employment the more salient risk.”
The release of the minutes come ahead of remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, which investors will monitor for insights into the path of interest rates. Fed funds futures are pricing in a more than 80% likelihood of the central bank cutting interest rates at its next policy gathering in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
“If Powell’s language is more hawkish, that could pressure tech stocks even further, as a continuation of these elevated interest rates is generally a headwind for the tech sector,” Schleif said.
