U.S. stocks traded mixed at midday Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision, with Chair Jerome Powell set to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Trade developments continued to influence market sentiment. During a Senate hearing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that initial talks with China will begin in Switzerland later this week, though he emphasized they are only preliminary.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) led notable decliners, plunging over 7% after a Bloomberg report indicated an Apple executive's testimony suggested AI may be eroding traditional search market share.
The Dow Jones outperformed, while tech-heavy indexes like the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 lagged under pressure from Alphabet’s sharp decline. Sector performance was positive overall, with modest gains led by financials.
In commodities, U.S. natural gas prices at the Henry Hub surged over 5% to $3.640 per million British units, driven by recovering feedgas flows to Freeport LNG and forecasts for early-season heat boosting demand.
Gold retreated 1.5% after a strong two-day rally, while oil dipped 1.2% to $58.30 following a brief spike to $60 overnight.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) held steady at around $96,800.
Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day % |
| Dow Jones | 41,115.49 | 0.7% |
| Russell 2000 | 1,993.68 | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 5,619.12 | 0.2% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 19,781.12 | -0.1% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) inched 0.2% up to $559.98.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.7% to $410.96.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 0.2% to $480.71.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.6% to $197.89.
- The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) outperformed, up 0.9%; the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) lagged, down 0.8%.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
Stocks reacting to earnings included:
- Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) down 6.84%
- Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) up 9.16%
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) up 0.89%
- International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) down 6.09%
- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) up 0.41%
- Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS) up 3.58%
- Corpay Inc. (NYSE:CPAY) down 1.80%
- Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ:WYNN) up 0.56%
- Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) down 0.67%
- Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) down 0.16%
- Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) down 6.04%
- Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) down 9.09%
- Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) down 2.90%
- The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) up 11.46%
- Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) down 2.02%
- Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) up 2.72%
- Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) up 1.52%
- Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) down 4.78%
- Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) up 4.22%
- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) up 12.29%
- Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:CQP) down 0.82%
- CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDW) up 6.90%
- NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) up 3.13%
Stocks slated to report earnings after the close include Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT), Axon Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ:AAXN), Corteva Inc. (NYSE:CTVA), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE:TPL), Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO), Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE:FNF), and Western Gas Partners LP (NYSE:WES).
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Powell will be speaking at 2:30 p.m. ET. Watch below.
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