U.S. stocks held steady on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up 0.2%. Positive earnings from Abercrombie & Fitch and Dick’s Sporting Goods contrasted with losses from Okta and Macy’s. A crucial Nvidia earnings report is expected to impact market sentiment.
U.S. stocks appeared steady on Wednesday, following a significant rebound that brought them closer to all-time highs. The S&P 500 was reported to be up 0.2% early in the day’s trading, marking it at 3.5% below its highest recorded value. Just a month ago, the index had been approximately 20% away from that peak, buoyed by optimism that the negative impacts of the trade friction instigated by President Donald Trump might be dissipating.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 60 points, or 0.1%, noted at 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite mirrored this trend with a rise of 0.2%. A pivotal moment for Wall Street is expected later in the day as Nvidia, a heavyweight in the market, prepares to disclose its latest earnings. The company is closely associated with the booming sector of artificial intelligence, but concerns loom that its stock may be overpriced, despite its overall performance stalling in recent months.
Several retailers have surprised analysts with positive quarterly results. Abercrombie & Fitch experienced a substantial uptick of 27.4% after beating profit and revenue expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz attributed this growth to broad advancements across their international business, specifically noting the strength of its Hollister brand countering a setback in Abercrombie’s sales.
Meanwhile, Dick’s Sporting Goods saw its shares rise by 2.7%, having also exceeded analysts’ profit expectations while maintaining its financial forecasts for the full year. In contrast, Okta faced a 12% drop despite reporting favorable results, likely due to investors expecting greater gains after a nearly 60% increase in its stock value this year.
Macy’s reported mixed results as it initially gained before dipping to a loss of 0.6%. The retailer observed lesser declines in revenue and profits than analysts had predicted. Maintaining its revenue forecast for the year, it nonetheless lowered its profit estimates, attributing some of the drop to tariffs and a slowdown in consumer spending.
In a notable move for the video game sector, GameStop’s shares fell by 3% after announcing the acquisition of 4,710 Bitcoin, valued at over $510 million at current prices. The company had hinted back in March about possibly buying Bitcoin to manage cash reserves.
In the broader economic landscape, the Federal Reserve is set to unveil the minutes from its recent meeting, during which it opted to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged for the third consecutive occasion. Several officials cited concerns about potentially rising unemployment and inflation, in part due to ongoing tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Globally, stock markets were largely down across Europe and Asia, except for South Korea where the Kospi index gained 1.3%, bolstered by performance from tech giants like Samsung Electronics. In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed slightly to 4.46% from 4.43% marked late Tuesday.