U.S. stocks slipped by midday Wednesday as a sharp selloff in industrials weighed on the Dow Jones and small caps, while healthcare provided a rare pocket of strength.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 7,788, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9%, or 465 points, to 51,056. The Dow was weighed down by Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), which sank 6.3% to about $809.
The Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.4% to 31,098. The Russell 2000 underperformed, shedding 1.4% to 2,792.
Treasury yields continued to rise. The 10-year bond yield rose about 5 basis points to 5.32%, its highest since 2002, while the 30-year yield gained about 5 basis points to 5.70%, a fresh 24-year high.
The next big test comes with September CPI on Oct. 14, after August inflation ran at 3.4% year over year. A hot print could quickly revive hike expectations, with Treasury yields already elevated.
Currently, the probability of a hike at the Oct. 28 meeting stands at 19.4%, down from 51% a week earlier, according to CME FedWatch figure. Markets still price roughly 70% odds of a quarter-point increase on Dec. 9.
Energy remained in focus, with Brent crude holding above $100 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to about $89.80 per barrel, while Brent gained 0.6% to roughly $101.17.
Gold retreated toward $4,135 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) slid 1.5%. Gold remains roughly 5% lower over the past month, so the move comes well below recent levels rather than near a record.
Silver fell with gold. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) lost 2.5%, with spot silver near $60 an ounce and down about 8% over the past month.
Bitcoin also traded lower, down 2.9% over 24 hours to about $83,400 after a 24-hour high near $85,900. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) dropped 2.7%.
Wednesday's Performance in Major US Indices
According to market data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) fell 0.4%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slid 0.9%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) declined 0.4%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) dropped 1.4%.
Industrials Crack, Healthcare Stands Alone
Health care was the standout as investors flocked to defensive sectors. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) climbed 1.7%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) added 1.1%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) rose 0.3%.
The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) was the weakest group, down 2.3%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) at 1.5% lower.
The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) each fell about 1.0%, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lost 0.9%, and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) shed 0.8%.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) dipped 0.5% and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) eased 0.5%.
Among industry funds, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) fell 2.8% alongside bullion, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) dropped 2.1% and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) slipped 1.4%.
Among Russell 1000 gainers, Summit Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMT) led with a 5.0% advance, extending a week of deal news in which AstraZeneca completed a $2 billion equity investment in the company and the two sides agreed to study ivonescimab in combination with Datroway.
Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) gained 3.9% as Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating, with investors also digesting Lilly's $870 million deal with Gate.
The gain came even as a pharma lobby group sued the Trump administration over most-favored-nation drug pricing. ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) added 3.5%.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE:HPE) climbed 3.4% to a record high after launching ProLiant Gen13 servers built on 6th-generation AMD EPYC processors for enterprise AI.
On the downside, QXO Inc. (NYSE:QXO) sank 10.0% and X-Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XE) fell 8.3%.
IES Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC) also dropped 10.0%, even after closing its $691 million acquisition of DBM Global earlier this week and expanding its credit facility to $700 million; no specific trigger for today's decline was confirmed.
Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ:CGNX) lost 8.2% after Truist trimmed its price target to $74 from $78 on Monday. Sterling Infrastructure Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) slid 8.0%, giving back part of a recent rebound of about 12% tied to data center construction demand.
