Stocks fell on Wednesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed increase inflation concerns, hampering beats of near-term interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 200 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.27% or -14.40 points to 5,307.01
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.51% or -201.95 points to 39,871.04
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.18% or -31.08 points to 16,801.54
In Focus:
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's recent policy meeting in May released Wednesday showed that officials grew more concerned over persistent inflation despite the high interest rate environment, which is intended to help stabilize prices.
"Participants observed that while inflation had eased over the past year, in recent months there had been a lack of further progress toward the Committee's 2 percent objective," the minutes read. "The recent monthly data had showed significant increases in components of both goods and services price inflation."
Central bankers also unanimously agreed that "maintaining the current target range for the federal funds rate at this meeting was supported by intermeeting data indicating continued solid economic growth," according to the minutes.
On the Earnings Front:
Target (NYSE: TGT) shares declined on Wednesday as the retailer saw year-over-year sales fall amid waning consumer sentiment in response to higher prices. Still, Target reiterated its full-year outlook, expecting comparable sales to range from flat to up to 2% and adjusted earnings per share between $8.60 and $9.60.
"We anticipate fiscal 2024 consensus is likely to remain largely unchanged, though Target shares could underperform given EPS/operating income slightly below consensus and generally heightened expectations, including better-than-feared results in recent quarters," said Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan on the retailer's earnings results.
Analog Devices (NASDAQ: ADI) shares rose to a new record high Wednesday after the semiconductor maker posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results and strong forward guidance. For its current quarter, Analog Devices expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.50, plus of minus $0.10, on revenue of $2.27 billion, plus or minus $100 million.
For Thursday:
All eyes will be on Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) quarterly earnings report due out Wednesday after market close, which is expected to be a catalyst for Thursday's session's momentum.
"While top-and-bottom-line surprises could be lower than they're been in recent quarters, we're most focused on F2Q25 revenue guidance," wrote Wolfe Research analyst Chris Senyek on Wednesday. "As long as it tops analyst expectations, Nvidia is likely to remain a key tailwind for the overall U.S. stock market."