Wall Street’s main indexes traded lower on Wednesday, August 28, ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading declines, as focus was squarely on if the recent bull market rally that was led by the artificial intelligence (AI) chip firm and other tech-related shares can be sustained.
The three main indexes have swung between small gains and losses this week, with the Dow benchmark drifting near a record high and the S&P 500 within one per cent of an all-time peak as investors await Nvidia’s results after the closing bell. The chip designer’s shares were down 2.5 per cent.
Any disappointment in Nvidia’s results could hurt megacaps and other semiconductor stocks, which have led to 2024’s rally on the prospect of artificial intelligence integration boosting corporate profits. Other chip stocks such as Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices fell 1.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index down 1.9 per cent.
All the growth stocks were in the red, with Meta down 0.7 per cent, Microsoft lower by 1.1 per cent and Alphabet declining 1.3 per cent. At 11:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 137.89 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 41,112.61, the S&P 500 was down 35.66 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 5,590.14, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 214.22 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 17,540.60.
