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A trader works as a screen displays a news conference by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the Fed rate announcement, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 13, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stocks fell in light trading on Wednesday as investors took some risk off the table following big November gains.
The S&P 500 shed 0.4%, which would snap a seven-day winning streak. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 110 points, or 0.3%, despite trading more than 140 points up at session highs.
Traders appeared to take profits on big technology names that have largely performed well this year, which can explain the Nasdaq’s underperformance. Nvidia, which has surged more than 168% in 2024, lost almost 2% in the session. Meta Platforms slid nearly 1% after rallying around 60% this year.
Elsewhere in tech, Dell and HP both dropped more than 12% after providing weak earnings guidance.
Those moves followed the latest reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, released Wednesday morning. The Federal Reserve-favored inflation gauge rose 0.2% in October and 2.3% on an annualized basis, in line with expectations from economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core measure increased 0.3% month over month and 2.8% compared with a year ago, also matching consensus forecasts.
“Today’s data shouldn’t change views of the likely path for disinflation, however bumpy,” said David Alcaly, lead macroeconomic strategist at Lazard Asset Management. “But a lot of observers, probably including some at the Fed, are looking for reasons to get more hawkish on the outlook given the potential for inflationary policy change like new tariffs.”
It’s a shortened trading week in the U.S., with the market dark for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and set to close early Friday. Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was on pace to be less than half of a typical day.
Still, it’s been a notable week as the Dow and S&P 500 rose to all-time highs. The Dow is now tracking to end the week just over 1% higher, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are up about 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively, on the week.
November trading, which has been defined by a postelection rally on the back of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, also concludes this week. The Dow has climbed more than 7% in November, on track for its biggest monthly gain of 2024. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each jumped more than 5%.
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