After ending yesterday’s choppy session narrowly mixed, stocks moved to the upside in early trading on Wednesday but quickly came under pressure. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session and firmly into negative territory.

The major averages saw further downside going into the end of the day, closing just off their lows of the session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 418.14 points or 1.8 percent to 22,693.32, the S&P 500 slumped 78.83 points or 1.2 percent to 6,721.43 and the Dow slid 228.29 points or 0.5 percent to 47,885.97.

The sharp pullback seen as the day progressed came amid renewed weakness among technology stocks, as reflected by the steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Major AI player Oracle (NASDAQ:AMD) helped lead the sector lower, plummeting by 5.4 percent to a six-month closing low.

Oracle came under pressure after a report from the Financial Times said the company’s largest data center partner Blue Owl Capital will not back a $10 billion deal for its next facility in Michigan, although Oracle later said the project is still moving forward.

Other big-name companies like Nvidia (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AMD) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) also showed significant moves to the downside.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, resulting in a 3.8 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Considerable weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index tumbling by 3.1 percent.

Networking stocks have also moved significantly lower, while airline, brokerage and housing stocks saw notable weakness outside of the tech sector.

On the other hand, energy stocks turned in a strong performance as the price of crude oil rebounds from its lowest levels since early 2021.

The jump by the price of crude oil comes after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela.

In a Truth Social post, Trump declared the government of President Nicolas Maduro a foreign terrorist organization and said he was ordering a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers” going into and leaving Venezuela.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index slid by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.151 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Thursday is likely to be driven by reaction to a report on consumer price inflation and its impact on the outlook for interest rates.

SOURCE: RTTNEWS

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