US close: Indices retreat from record highs in quiet session

(Sharecast News) - US stocks finished mostly lower on Wednesday as investors chose to take profits after the record highs seen on the Dow and S&P 500 the previous session, as optimism surrounding stimulus measures in China quickly faded. The Dow settled 0.7% lower at 41,914.75, pulling back from Tuesday's all-time closing high of 42,208.22, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 5,722.26 from 5,732.93. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, finished more or less flat at 18,082.21, eking out a gain of just 0.04%.

Equity markets worldwide rallied on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China unveiled a significant stimulus package aimed at boosting the country's flagging economy, including cuts to reserve requirements and lending rates, including for existing home loans.

However, even further PBoC stimulus announced on Wednesday - by way of a cut to the the largest reduction in interest rates for one-year loans to financial institutions in history - wasn't enough to keep the rally going.

Investors may have been scaling back risk appetite ahead of a flurry of speeches from eight Federal Reserve policymakers scheduled for Thursday, including chair Jerome Powell, at the US Treasury Market Conference in New York.

While he is unlikely to reveal anything new, his comments will be closely watched following last week's bumper 50bp rate cut by the US central bank, as markets look out for any hints at how policy will change in the coming months.

Wednesday was a relatively quiet day for economic data, though indicators from the housing market were in focus. Mortgage applications surged 11% in the week ended 20 September, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, extending the previous week's 14.2% increase and lifting application volumes to their highest level in more than two years.

Meanwhile, US new home sales slipped to 716,000 in August, according to the Census Bureau, a 4.7% drop from July's revised reading of 751,000. The median sales price of homes sold in August was $420,600, while the average price came to $492,700.

Market movers

Microsoft saw shares rise despite the company being accused by Google of using anti-competitive legacy licensing practices to lock European customers into its cloud platform. In a complaint to the European Commission on Wednesday, Google claimed that Microsoft is creating barriers to prevent customers switching to other providers, citing a study showing a €1bn negative impact to European businesses in 2022. Alphabet finished in the red.

Chipmaker were performing well, with Micron Technology rising ahead of its latest earnings released following the closing bell. Nvidia and Intel also gained.

US-listed shares of Flutter Entertainment jumped 5% as the Ireland-based gambling company announced a $5bn share buyback and said profits were expected to more than double by 2027.

Hewlett Packard shares traded higher after analysts at Barclays upgraded the stock to 'overweight', while shares in automotive giants General Motors and Ford both slid on the back of downgrades by Morgan Stanley to 'underweight' and 'equal weight', respectively.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.54 3.20% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $274.09 1.35% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $81.40 0.90% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $432.11 0.69% Nike Inc. (NKE) $88.00 0.62% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $52.65 0.25% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $93.92 0.25% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $576.31 0.19% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $71.45 0.17% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $221.23 0.12%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $312.86 -5.46% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $8.25 -3.28% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $143.97 -2.36% Boeing Co. (BA) $152.22 -2.30% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $378.25 -1.99% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $491.14 -1.38% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $160.60 -1.34% Visa Inc. (V) $269.63 -1.15% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $52.84 -1.14% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $396.93 -0.93%

S&P 500 - Risers

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $19.85 5.14% Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $8.29 3.75% Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.54 3.20% Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $7.82 3.17% Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J) $154.08 2.41% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $162.02 2.34% AES Corp. (AES) $19.53 2.20% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $123.51 2.18% AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $3,108.97 2.14% Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $42.45 1.99%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Global Payments Inc. (GPN) $97.06 -6.50% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $312.86 -5.46% Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $31.15 -5.20% Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $28.39 -4.57% Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $26.25 -4.48% Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $86.58 -4.29% Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $58.14 -4.26% Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $57.96 -4.23% Ford Motor Co. (F) $10.42 -4.14% Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.16 -4.13%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $23.54 3.20% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $123.51 2.18% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $95.77 1.88% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $803.75 1.60% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $95.62 1.24% O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,142.81 1.20% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $207.21 1.15% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $257.02 1.08% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $107.76 1.06% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,131.29 0.96%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $312.86 -5.46% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $51.08 -3.73% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $8.25 -3.28% Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $314.49 -2.74% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $242.45 -2.63% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $189.07 -2.60% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $126.15 -2.07% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $64.10 -2.05% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $33.21 -2.04% Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $82.21 -1.89%