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 struggling technology names put downward pressure on the market.
The broad index lost 0.4%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added fell by 71 points, or 0.2%, 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 felt pressure in afternoon trading as artificial intelligence darling Nvidia swung to losses. The mega-cap technology stock fell more than 2%, joining fellow big tech names including Netflix, Meta, Apple and Microsoft in the red. Tech was the worst-performing S&P 500 sector, falling more than 1%.
Investors are “trimming some of the high fliers,” said Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab. “I think investors are really starting to catch on to the fact that there are other parts of the market that are doing well.”
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 16% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss and beating on revenue. On the other hand, J.B. Hunt Transport Services dropped more than 8% after missing analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Wednesday could mark the Dow’s sixth negative day of the last 7, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite could post 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.
That performance comes amid a bout of weakness that has marked a reprieve from the strong gains seen in the first quarter and in 2023. The Dow has slid about 5% in April, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have tumbled more than 4% and 3%, respectively.
“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.”