By Echo Wang
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street edged lower on Thursday as investors assessed key economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.
The Nasdaq surged past the 20,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday, fueled by a relentless rally in technology stocks. The climbed to its highest level in nearly a week, as an inflation report aligning with expectations cemented bets on a 25-basis-point rate cut at the Fed’s Dec. 17-18 meeting.
Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed last week, raising concerns over labor-market resilience. U.S. producer prices rose more than forecast in November, though a moderation in service costs pointed to a continuation of the broader disinflationary trend.
“Investors are just trying to suss out what is the Fed going to do next week? Is inflation really going to be a problem and the Fed has to really slow its role on rate cuts, or can they get there?” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Seattle.
Haworth added there was profit-taking after the Nasdaq touched an all-time high on Wednesday.
Trader bets on the cut next week stand at over 98%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. However, they indicate expectations of a pause in January after several Fed officials last week urged caution over the pace of monetary policy easing as the economy remained resilient.
At 1:50 p.m. EST (1950 GMT) the fell 144.71 points, or 0.33%, to 44,004.27, the S&P 500 lost 14.59 points, or 0.24%, to 6,069.60 and the lost 46.62 points, or 0.23%, to 19,988.28.
Eight of the 11 major S&P sub-sectors were trading lower, with the healthcare sector at the bottom with a 0.6% decline.
Megacap and growth stocks showed a mixed performance, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:) slipping 0.78%, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:) rose 1.12%.
Adobe (NASDAQ:) plunged 13.27% after the Photoshop maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street expectations, weighing on the broader technology sector.
Wall Street’s main indexes have hit record highs multiple times this year, fueled by a rally in heavyweight tech stocks that capitalized on enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and the Fed’s interest-rate cuts.
U.S. equities concluded a strong November following Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, buoyed by expectations of business-friendly policies boosting corporate profits, and have started December on a broadly positive trajectory.
Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:) soared 14.97% after the media company announced plans to separate its declining cable-TV business from streaming and studio operations.
Nordson (NASDAQ:) slid 9% as the dispensing-equipment maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street estimates, while health insurer Centene (NYSE:) rose 2.41% after forecasting its 2025 profit above estimates.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.24-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 94 new highs and 75 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and seven new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 116 new lows.
