Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., August 19, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stocks dipped on Wednesday, pressured by a broad decline in tech for the second day in a row. Investors also monitored a mixed batch of retail earnings and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes release.
The Nasdaq Composite lost about 1.1%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 47 points, or 0.1%.
Investors continued to take profits from several heavyweight technology and semiconductor names, fanning concerns about their high valuations and the strength of the AI trade longer term. Nvidia declined about 3%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom each lost more than 3.5%. Shares of Palantir declined about 5.5%, and Intel dropped more than 6%. Mega-cap tech companies Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta also declined.
On the earnings front, Target shares dropped more than 8% — making the stock the S&P 500’s worst performer — 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.
Investors are awaiting July meeting minutes from the Fed due at 2 p.m. ET. 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.
That comes 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 nearly 85% likelihood of the central bank cutting interest rates at its next policy gathering in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
‘Stock market valuations are full right now leaving little wiggle room for disappointment. The stock market is currently discounting a bright future ahead, and that assessment is largely justified thanks to earnings, which have been much stronger than originally expected and increasing clarity on trade and tax policy,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth. “Investors have high hopes that Jerome Powell will use Jackson Hole to set the stage for a September rate cut, given the recent weakness in the labor market data.”
The major U.S. indexes are in the red for the week so far. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq pulled back on Tuesday as tech losses piled up.