U.S. stocks drop ahead of Nvidia earnings report
NEW YORK, May 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as investors awaited Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings report, which came after market close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 244.95 points, or 0.58 percent, to 42,098.7. The S&P 500 sank 32.99 points, or 0.56 percent, to 5,888.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 98.23 points, or 0.51 percent, to 19,100.94.
All of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with utilities and materials leading the laggards by dropping 1.44 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively. Real estate posted the weakest decline, down 0.01 percent.
The Federal Reserve's May policy meeting minutes, released Wednesday, reflected continued uncertainty among policymakers about the trajectory of fiscal policy and trade tensions. While officials agreed to keep interest rates steady, they noted that economic growth remained "solid" and the labor market "broadly balanced," although risks of softening persisted.
"In considering the outlook for monetary policy, participants agreed that with economic growth and the labor market still solid and current monetary policy moderately restrictive, the (Federal Open Market) Committee was well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlooks for inflation and economic activity," the summary said.
Nvidia, currently the world's second-largest company by market cap, remained at the center of attention. Notably, Nvidia's stock has declined after its last three earnings reports, despite consistently beating expectations.
Elsewhere in tech, Broadcom climbed 1.6 percent, Apple and Meta saw modest gains, while Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet dipped. Tesla shares hit their highest point since early February during Tuesday's session, before it dropped 1.65 Wednesday.
In the retail sector, Abercrombie & Fitch surged 14.69 percent on strong results. Macy's ended the day down 0.33 percent after a volatile start to the session, after it delivered solid performance, but lowered its full-year profit guidance on Wednesday, pointing to the growing financial strain from rising tariffs. Capri Holdings, owner of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, gained 2.94 percent.
On the bond front, U.S. Treasury yields edged higher, with the 10-year yield reaching 4.483 percent, up from 4.449 percent on Tuesday. Last week, it peaked at 4.63 percent, the highest in over three months, driven by market worries over ballooning federal deficits as the GOP's tax-and-spending bill advanced in Congress.
Tuesday's gains marked a sharp rebound for Wall Street after a recent four-day losing streak. The S&P 500 is now up 0.34 percent year to date, recovering from being down 15 percent just last month, as market sentiment improves amid trade de-escalation and strong consumer spending.
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