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U.S. stocks were little changed Wednesday as oil prices extended gains, while investors braced for a wave of major earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.06 points, or 0.01%, to 52218.58. The S&P 500 slipped 10.24 points, or 0.14%, to 7498.96, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 146.30 points, or 0.57%, to 25690.90. According to preliminary data, there were 1193 advancing issues and 1540 declining issues on the NYSE.
Brent crude climbed above $94 a barrel, more than $20 above its early-July lows, as disruptions spread across three of the world’s key energy chokepoints simultaneously. Traffic at the Strait of Hormuz remained at less than 10% of its prewar levels. Tankers headed toward the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea turned back after Yemen’s Houthi militants threatened to blockade Saudi ports. And Ukrainian drone strikes disrupted oil loadings from a pipeline carrying Russian and Kazakh crude to the Black Sea.
“Everything is going wrong at the same time,” said Sasha Foss, an energy markets analyst at Marex.
Super Micro Computer surged nearly 20% after the AI server maker secured more than $60 billion in new orders during the quarter. Rivals Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise also rose on the news. AT&T gained 3.5% after reporting higher revenue and stronger-than-expected customer additions. GE Vernova fell 8.7% after its second-quarter earnings per share missed analyst estimates, even as the power equipment maker raised its full-year guidance and said its total order backlog had reached $176 billion.
Airbus jumped about 7% in Paris after the plane maker said it was targeting an operating profit of at least 12 billion Euros in 2029, up 70% from last year, and announced a 5.2 billion Euro share buyback plan. Prologis sweetened its takeover bid for U.K. warehouse owner Segro to nearly $19 billion, sending Segro shares higher. Nike shares fell after analysts called its decision to consolidate online sales in China by cutting off most third-party e-commerce vendors a strategic misstep.
President Trump said the U.S. would impose a 100% tariff on generic drugs starting in August 2028, sending shares of European and Asian makers of generic medicines lower. Trump’s 10% global tariff is set to expire Friday, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signaling replacement forced-labor tariffs may not be ready in time.
Traders now see roughly a 25% chance of a rate hike at next week’s Fed meeting, up from about 16% at the start of the week, and a roughly 50% chance of two hikes before year-end.
Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds climbed. The 10-year yield rose 0.029 percentage point to 4.657%, its second-highest level for this year, as the oil surge stoked inflation fears. The dollar fell by 0.05 percentage point, according to the ICE US dollar index. The euro was last seen at $1.14. Gold gained 1.9% to $4,146.90 per troy ounce.
Looking ahead, Intel, American Airlines, Comcast and Lockheed Martin report Thursday. The European Central Bank announces its interest-rate decision Thursday. American Express and Verizon report Friday.
Write to Anvee Bhutani at [email protected]