US stocks retreated on Wednesday, weighed down by a renewed climb in crude oil prices and firmer bond yields, as investors held off for signs of progress in talks to end the Middle East conflict ahead of the closely watched US-China summit, Reuters reported.
Brent crude rose more than 2% to $101.92, snapping a five-session losing streak, though it stayed close to a two-week low. Government bond yields also edged up across the two-(4.87%) and 10-year (5.058%) tenors, reinforcing worries that borrowing costs will stay higher for longer.
"The market is in a limbo right now, because bond yields and oil prices are up," Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, told Reuters.
Chip stocks led early losses, with AMD, Nvidia and Intel all trading lower, and the Philadelphia chips index was down 1.5%. Meta Platforms was an exception, adding 1.5% to bring its weekly gain up to 10%, buoyed by the strong debut of its AI assistant Muse — a launch analysts say could lift tech infrastructure names even as it stokes fresh AI-disruption worries elsewhere in the market.
Major banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs stabilised after Tuesday's sharp losses, leaving the S&P 500 Financials index flat following its worst single-day fall since March. Materials stocks slipped 0.9%, dragged lower by miners such as Newmont as a stronger dollar pressured metal prices.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 78.19 points, or 0.15%, to 51,785.50, while the S&P 500 dropped 47.34 points, or 0.61%, to 7,717.30. The Nasdaq Composite fell the hardest, down 330.18 points, or 1.21%, to 26,914.10
That marked a reversal from Tuesday, when the Nasdaq touched its first intraday record since early June on continued AI-driven optimism.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due in Washington later Wednesday for a state visit expected to cover the extension of last year's US-China trade truce, AI regulation and US arms sales to Taiwan, along with meetings with top executives from General Motors, Meta, Apple, Amazon and Tesla.
Elevated AI spending and rising energy costs linked to the US-Iran conflict have led Fed officials to signal that rates may need to stay restrictive for longer, even after last week's rate hike.
Markets are currently pricing in even odds of another 25-basis-point increase next month, per the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Among individual movers, Cracker Barrel rose 3.8% after topping fourth-quarter sales expectations, while Paychex fell 5.4% on news that its largest business segment had missed first-quarter revenue forecasts.
Losers outpaced gainers by a ratio of 3.26 to 1 on the NYSE and 2.62 to 1 on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 recorded 12 new 52-week highs against 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite logged 17 new highs and 55 new lows.
(Disclaimer: This article is based on inputs from agencies. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
