A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Stock futures were little changed in overnight trading Wednesday following a four-day losing streak for the S&P 500 as tech names dragged the broader market lower.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also traded near the flatline.
Big Tech names and chipmakers led losses again Wednesday as investors continued to rotate out of high-flying stocks. Amazon, Apple and Alphabet all registered losses of more than 1%. Broadcom dipped 1.3%, while Intel dropped 7%. At one point in the session, Nvidia fell more than 3%, but the stock closed just 0.1% lower.
“There just hasn’t been much conviction behind the recent bout of tech selling, and most people assume it will be over relatively soon,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. “This mindset suggests a dangerous degree of complacency, and it means the ‘pain trade’ will be for the tech underperformance to continue.”
Investors are eager to hear from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday at the central bank’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he could offer 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.
Minutes from Fed’s July meeting showed policymakers are worried about the state of the labor market and inflation, though most agreed that it was too soon to lower interest rates. Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented against holding rates steady, marking the first time two voting Fed officials have done so since 1993.
“The Fed is worried about inflation accelerating as companies pass tariffs on to consumers,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “The minutes are consistent with Powell’s hawkish comments last meeting. The bulls might get some cold water splashed in their faces at Jackson Hole.”
On Thursday, traders will watch for Walmart earnings before the bell, followed by results from Workday in the afternoon. On the economic front, weekly jobless claims and existing home sales data are also due.
The 8 most valuable U.S. stocks all fell Wednesday. The next 7 all rose
The farther down the S&P 500 one looked Wednesday, the more green on the screen.
All eight of the largest companies in the S&P 500 — consisting of the Mag Seven plus Broadcom, which are also the only eight that have a market value above $1 trillion — fell on Wednesday. The declines ranged from just 0.14% for Nvidia, the most valuable stock in the U.S., worth some $4.3 trillion, up to 1.97% for Apple, the third most highly-valued stock, after Microsoft (-0.79%).
Meanwhile, the next seven stocks with the highest market caps, all rose in price Wednesday. They were led by Walmart, with a market cap of $819 billion, ahead 1.26%. Oracle gained 0.19%, bringing the company’s market cap to $660 billion. The smallest stock in that second cohort of advancers was Mastercard, worth $536 billion, which rose 1.22%.
— Scott Schnipper
Fed Governor Lisa Cook says she won’t be ‘bullied’ into resigning from her post
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Wednesday that she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
Cook’s comments come after Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said she should resign or be fired over what he claimed was evidence of “mortgage fraud.”
“To be honest, I think she needs to resign quickly,” Pulte said of Cook on CNBC’s “Money Movers.” “I think she will have to resign, or I think she will be fired.”
Responding to Pulte’s unsubstantiated allegation, President Donald Trump also said in a Truth Social post that Cook “must resign, now!!!”
Read the latest on this story here.
— Kevin Breuninger, Darla Mercado
Coty shares plunge after weak forecast
Coty shares tanked more than 15% in extended trading after the beauty retailer’s management forecast a weak first half of fiscal year of 2026 with declines in both sales and profit.
Still, Coty sees a turnaround in the second half as new product launches and tariff mitigation kicks in. For the latest quarter, Coty reported revenue of $1.25 billion, higher than the $1.20 billion estimate per LSEG.
— Yun Li
