At 12:29 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 242.74 points, or 0.54%, to 44,242.58, the S&P 500 lost 7.28 points, or 0.11%, to 6,290.21 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 15.30 points, or 0.07%, to 20,870.41.
Netflix dropped 4.5% to an over one-month low despite the success of “Squid Game” helping the company surpass earnings forecasts. The streaming giant also lifted its annual revenue outlook.
Meanwhile, the latest pulse check on consumers came from the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index that rose to 61.8 this month.
But for Wall Street, it’s been a heavy week. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow are on track for only modest gains as investors waded through a maze of mixed signals – robust retail sales, a rise in consumer inflation, and flat producer prices for June.
Jitters spiked midweek after reports surfaced of a possible ouster of Fed Chair Jerome Powell – reports quickly denied by President Donald Trump. Still, with the president’s criticism of Powell’s reluctance to cut rates growing louder, Fed Governor Chris Waller signaled he’d be willing to take the job if asked.Meanwhile, the August 1 tariff deadline also cast a shadow over markets, keeping trade policy uncertainty in focus.”The week has been heavy in noise, and everybody is worried about tariffs and then you throw in the summer, there’s no real catalyst,” said Max Wasserman, senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital.
“As long as earnings and employment are okay, there’s no reason people to get out of this market.”
Against this backdrop, traders now put the odds of a September Fed rate cut at 58%, with a July move nearly off the table, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Seven of 11 S&P sectors were on the rise, led by utilities jumped 1.8%. The sector often trades as bond-proxies.
American Express outpaced second-quarter profit estimates, buoyed by strong spending from its affluent cardholders. However, its shares were down 2.9%.
Brokerage firm Charles Schwab gained 2% after its profit rose nearly 60% in the second quarter.
As the second-quarter earnings season gets underway, early results from 59 S&P 500 companies that reported showed more than 81.4% have topped Wall Street’s earnings expectations, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data.
Cryptocurrency stocks rose after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Robinhood Markets and Coinbase Global gained 4.2% and 3.8%, respectively.
Chevron closed its $55 billion acquisition of Hess after winning a landmark legal battle against larger rival Exxon Mobil. Hess jumped 7.7%.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.07-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.09-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 87 new highs and 35 new lows.
