WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions. The major averages have all slid firmly into negative territory.
Currently, the major averages are just off their lows of the session. The Dow is down 563.18 points or 1.1 percent at 50,958.10, the Nasdaq is down 240.35 points or 0.9 percent at 27,359.54 and the S&P 500 is down 55.15 points or 0.7 percent at 7,763.78.
The weakness on Wall Street may partly reflect profit taking following the recent strength, which came amid easing concerns about the Federal Reserve once again raising interest rates later this month.
The major averages have closed higher for four consecutive sessions, lifting the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new record highs.
A rebound by treasury yields is also weighing on stocks, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year bouncing back to its highest levels since 2002 following a pullback on Tuesday.
Treasury yields are moving back to the upside along with the price of crude oil, which is bouncing off its lowest level in a month.
The rebound by the price of crude oil comes amid fears Iran is once again stepping up attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
U.K. Maritime Trade Operations said there had been nine attacks so far this month, half the number it reported for all of September in the waterway and Persian Gulf combined.
Meanwhile, traders are also looking ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later this afternoon.
The minutes may shed additional light on Fed officials' thinking ahead of the central bank's next interest rate decision later this month.
Ahead of the release of the minutes, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 80.6 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged and just a 19.4 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike.
Sector News
Gold stocks are moving sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3 percent to a two-month intraday low.
Substantial weakness is also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index.
Housing stocks have also shown a significant move to the downside, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index tumbling by 2.8 percent.
Networking, oil service and semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks have bucked the downtrend.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slid by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.6 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day, While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.3 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 1.5 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have climbed off their lows of the session but remain in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.0 basis points at 5.311 percent.
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