Tech Stocks Close Midweek in Red
(MENAFN) U.S. equities closed mostly lower midweek as technology shares extended their recent slide, intensifying losses from Tuesday’s trading session. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.67%, shedding 142.09 points to finish at 21,172.86, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.24%, or 15.59 points, closing at 6,395.78. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.04%, gaining 16.04 points to 44,938.31.
The market downturn was driven largely by weakness in the tech sector. Key players faced steep declines, including Broadcom, which fell 1.3%, Palantir, down 1.1%, and Intel, plunging 7%. Major tech giants Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta also recorded losses.
Adding to investor caution, the minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, released Wednesday, revealed officials’ concerns about the economic outlook, inflation pressures, and labor market conditions. Despite these worries, the majority concluded it was premature to lower the policy rate.
“Participants generally pointed to risks to both sides of the Committee’s dual mandate, emphasizing upside risk to inflation and downside risk to employment,” the minutes stated. While “a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks,” a minority believed “downside risk to employment [was] the more salient risk.”
The meeting also saw an unusual split among Fed governors: Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented from the decision to keep rates steady, advocating for an immediate rate cut. Since December 2024, the federal funds rate has remained between 4.25% and 4.5%. This marked the first time in over three decades that more than one governor opposed the prevailing interest rate decision.
These minutes come ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s much-anticipated keynote address Friday at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he is expected to provide insights on the future direction of monetary policy.
In a separate development, U.S. President Donald Trump called for the resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook amid allegations of mortgage fraud.
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