Business Recorder
U.S. stocks were subdued on Wednesday in choppy trading, as investors remained cautious while awaiting progress in Middle East talks. Iran’s state TV said Tehran had obtained a draft framework for an agreement with the U.S. that would restore Strait of Hormuz shipping within a month in exchange for a U.S. military pullback and lifting of a naval blockade. “We’re a little bit concerned that the market’s going to test once earnings season is over in totality. Then we have a lack of news flow, so the market will turn its attention to the Fed, to the Middle East,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO & CIO at Laffer Tengler Investments. At 09:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.37 points, or 0.35%, to 50,642.33, the S&P 500 gained 2.37 points, or 0.03%, to 7,521.49 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 3.30 points, or 0.01%, to 26,651.99. Six of the 11 main S&P 500 sectors were in the positive territory, with consumer discretionary leading the gains. It was up 1.4%. The S&P 500 energy index fell 1.5%, tracking a decline in oil prices, while tech shares slipped 0.2% after reaching an all-time high on Tuesday. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had closed at record highs on Tuesday, driven by strong momentum in AI-related stocks, as Micron Technology crossed $1 trillion in market cap. Shares of the memory chipmaker rose 3.8%. Peers Western Digital and Seagate Technology were up 2.5% and 3.2%, respectively. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was down 0.7%, with chip giant Nvidia falling 1.7%. A strong earnings season and expectations of about 29% year-on-year growth in the first quarter have aided the rally on Wall Street, with the blue-chip Dow Jones becoming the last major index to hit a record high on Friday. Goldman Sachs raised its 2026 year-end forecast for the S&P 500 to 8,000 from 7,600, citing continued strength in corporate earnings. Markets will next look toward the personal consumption expenditures index data on Thursday. The Federal Reserve’s key inflation measure could provide fresh clues on the monetary policy path forward under new chair Kevin Warsh. Money markets currently expect the Fed to keep rates steady for the rest of the year, with some pricing in a 25 basis point hike in December. Among other movers, Zscaler tumbled 30% after the cloud security firm projected fourth-quarter revenue below expectations. GlobalFoundries fell 9% after Bloomberg News reported that majority owner Mubadala Investment Company was seeking to raise $1.91 billion from an unregistered block sale of GFS shares. Bath & Body Works jumped 16.5% after the retailer reported first-quarter sales and profit above expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 106 new highs and 44 new lows.
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