Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on March 13, 2023.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
The S&P 500 retreated on Wednesday, as Nvidia and other technology names put downward pressure on the market.
The broad index lost 0.4%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered around flat, despite rising more than 200 points at session highs.
Wednesday marks the third straight session when stocks opened higher but faded as the day wore on.
Stocks came under pressure as artificial intelligence darling Nvidia swung to losses midday. The mega-cap technology stock fell more than 3%, joining fellow big tech names including Netflix, Meta, Apple and Microsoft in the red. Tech was the worst-performing S&P 500 sector, falling 1.5%.
That overshadowed the strong start to the new earnings season. While less than 10% of S&P 500-listed companies have reported financials so far, more than 3 out of every 4 have surpassed Wall Street expectations, per FactSet.
Notably, United Airlines climbed more than 13% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss and beating on revenue. On the other hand, J.B. Hunt Transport Services fell more than 7% after missing analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
The Dow is poised for its sixth negative day of the last 7, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are tracking for their fourth straight down sessions. A four-day losing streak would mark the longest for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since periods ending in early January.
“This is a more cautionary market,” said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist at the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. “I’m more cautious right now than I have been over the past five months.”
