The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.85 percent to 51,977 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.51 percent to 7,581 points and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.64 percent to 28,942 points. Market participants remained cautious a day before the Federal Reserve's third policy meeting under new chair Kevin Warsh, with markets widely anticipating a 0.25 percentage point rise in the policy range to 3.75‑4.00 percent.
Higher energy prices continued to drive inflation, pushing the yield on ten‑year US Treasury notes above the five percent mark for a second straight day. Seema Shah of Principal Asset Management noted the debate has shifted from whether the Fed will raise rates to the extent of tightening needed to restore price stability, suggesting a single hike is unlikely.
Brock Weimer of Edward Jones said inflation has eased markedly from its 2022 peak, leading him to expect any further tightening will be limited in scope and duration, and that a moderate additional increase would not derail the broader economic expansion or the equity bull market.
In the technology sector, chip stocks showed mixed performance: Qualcomm, AMD and Marvell Technology gained between 1.6 and 5.1 percent, while Nvidia managed only a 0.4 percent rise. Dell and HP Enterprise also attracted buying interest, though specific gains were not quoted.
Steel Dynamics rose 1.3 percent after positive industry news, following a Bloomberg‑reported call from the Chinese steel association on WeChat for leading producers to curb output and reduce inventories, a move described as entering a phase of "reduction and optimisation" that could ease global price pressure.
Cryptocurrency‑related stocks came under pressure as optimism waned for a comprehensive US regulatory bill this week. Bitcoin slipped 1.5 percent, Coinbase shares fell 6.6 percent and Strategy, which holds Bitcoin as a primary reserve, declined 3.1 percent.
