A staff member monitors screens in the trading room at Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
U.S. stock markets lost a bit of momentum on Wednesday after a recent stretch of strong gains brought them close to all-time highs. The S&P 500 dipped by 0.6%, though it still remains just 4.2% below its record. Only weeks ago, the index had been down nearly 20% from that peak, showing how sharply it had rebounded.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 244 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite declined by 0.5%.
The day was relatively calm as investors waited for Nvidia’s quarterly earnings report, a major event in the tech space. Nvidia’s stock edged down by 0.5% during the day, with many on Wall Street uncertain if the company could live up to the high expectations surrounding its role in the AI boom. Although Nvidia has seen massive growth, its stock price has mostly leveled off this year.
Macy’s also caught investors’ attention. The retailer’s revenue and profit dropped, but not as much as expected. Despite this, Macy’s trimmed its profit outlook due to tariff pressures and signs of slower spending by shoppers. Its stock closed 0.3% lower.
Several other retailers offered brighter news. Abercrombie & Fitch saw its stock surge by nearly 15% after it reported earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations. The company pointed to strong sales across global markets and steady performance from its Hollister brand.
Dick’s Sporting Goods also posted better-than-expected results and kept its full-year outlook intact. Its shares rose by 1.7%.
Not all companies fared well. Okta, a cybersecurity firm, tumbled 16.2%. Even though it delivered strong quarterly results, investors seemed to expect more, especially after the stock had gained nearly 60% this year.
GameStop, the video game retailer, dropped 10.9% after revealing it had purchased 4,710 bitcoin, worth more than $500 million at current prices. The company had earlier indicated it might invest part of its cash holdings in cryptocurrency.
By the end of the day, the S&P 500 closed at 5,888.55 after falling 32.99 points. The Dow slipped to 42,098.70, and the Nasdaq ended at 19,100.94.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up to 4.47% from 4.43% a day earlier. There was little reaction to the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes, which showed that the central bank is still holding off on cutting interest rates due to inflation concerns. Tariffs imposed by former President Trump are among the factors keeping inflation higher than expected.
Last week’s sharp moves in Treasury yields shook global markets. These swings stem in part from anxiety over the U.S. government’s growing debt. The bond market in Japan also faced stress, as demand at a 40-year bond auction fell to its lowest level since July. Japan’s central bank has been slowly reducing its bond purchases, and other major investors have followed suit, pushing yields higher.
Globally, most stock markets in Europe and Asia saw small declines. However, South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 1.3%, driven by gains in tech stocks like Samsung.
