NEW YORK — Wall Street fell again on Wednesday as tech stocks fell, with the S&P 500 falling for the fourth consecutive quarter.
The index fell 29.20 points, or 0.6%, to 5,022.21, its longest losing streak since early January. It has fallen 4.4% since setting a record late last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.66 points, or 0.1%, to $37,753.31, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell $181.88, or 1.1%, to $15,683.37.
Tech stocks fell after Dutch company ASML, a major supplier to the semiconductor industry, reported lower orders for early 2024 than analysts expected. The company’s shares fell 7.1% in U.S. trading.
Nvidia stock fell 3.9% and Broadcom stock fell 3.5%, making them the two biggest stocks in the S&P 500.
Weakness in tech stocks overshadowed better-than-expected profit reports from some major companies, including United Airlines. The stock soared 17.4%, boosted by strong demand from business flyers, after reporting better-than-expected year-to-date results than analysts expected.
The losses came even as pressure from the bond market, which has driven much of Wall Street’s recent action, eased. The plunge in oil prices eased investors’ concerns about inflation, which led to lower U.S. Treasury yields.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 4.58% from 4.67% late Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury note, which is moving more in line with the Fed’s expectations, fell to 4.92% from 4.99%.
They gave back some of the recent big gains driven by traders who gave up hopes of an imminent rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Yields were back to November levels on Tuesday after senior Federal Reserve officials indicated the central bank could keep its main interest rate on hold for some time. The central bank wants to be more confident that inflation is on a sustained path toward its 2% target. Key interest rates remain at their highest levels since 2001.
Most traders now expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates only once or twice this year, according to data from CME Group. This was lower than the forecast of six or more cases at the beginning of the year.
With little short-term support expected from interest rate easing, companies will need to achieve higher profits to justify the strong rise in stock prices since the fall.
“I think the market is waiting for company news to decide where it’s going next,” said J.J. Kinahan, CEO of IG North America.
Travelers shares fell 7.4% after the company’s quarterly results fell short of expectations. They had to contend with further losses from the catastrophe.
JB Hunt Transport Services shares fell 8.1% after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings and results. Competition in the country’s east and rising worker wages and other costs hurt in part.
The winner on Wall Street was Omnicom Group. The company rose 1.6% after the company said its latest quarterly profit beat analysts’ expectations. The marketing and communications company highlighted growth trends in most markets around the world except the Middle East and Africa.
Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company also continued to soar, this time up 15.6%. After that, it was a two-game losing streak of over 14%. Experts say the stock has been caught in a frenzy of trading driven more by public opinion about the former president than by the company’s earnings outlook.
Information for this article was contributed by Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott of The Associated Press.
