Wall Street drifts lower as US stocks slow their roll
[May 29, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower on Wednesday, cooling down a
day after leaping within a few good days’ worth of gains from their
all-time high.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, but it’s still within 4.2% of its record after
charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by
President Donald Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly
20% below the mark last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 244 points, or 0.6%, and the
Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5%.
Trading was relatively quiet in the countdown to Wednesday’s main event
for financial markets, the latest quarterly earnings release for Nvidia.
That came after trading ended for the day. Before that, the AI darling’s
stock slipped 0.5%.
Expectations were high for the bellwether of the frenzy around
artificial-intelligence technology. So are worries that its stock price
may have run too high, even after it has largely stalled this year.
Like Nvidia, Macy’s stock also swung up and down through much of the
day, even though it reported milder drops in revenue and profit for the
latest quarter than analysts expected.
The retailer maintained its forecast for revenue this year, but it cut
its profit forecast in part because of tariffs and some moderation of
spending by consumers. Its stock ended the day down 0.3%.
Several other retailers likewise delivered better-than-expected results
for the latest quarter. Abercrombie & Fitch soared 14.7% after its
profit and revenue topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz
credited broad-based growth across its business around the world, and
strength for its Hollister brand offset weakness for its Abercrombie
brand.
Dick’s Sporting Goods added 1.7% after topping analysts’ expectations
for the latest quarter, and it stood by its financial forecasts it
earlier gave for the full year.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Okta, which fell 16.2% even though
the identity and access management company reported better results for
the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. Analysts called it a solid
performance, but investors may have been looking for even more after its
stock came into the day up nearly 60% for the year so far.
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Specialist Michael Pistillo, left, and trader Michael Capolino work
on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
 Video-game retailer GameStop fell
10.9% after saying it had bought 4,710 bitcoin, which is worth more
than $500 million at its current price. The company said in late
March that it could begin buying bitcoin to store some of the cash
in its treasury.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 32.99 points to 5,888.55. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 244.95 to 42,098.70, and the Nasdaq
composite fell 98.23 to 19,100.94.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.47%
from 4.43% late Tuesday.
The bond market showed relatively little reaction after the Federal
Reserve released the minutes from its latest meeting earlier this
month, when it left its benchmark lending rate alone for the third
straight time. The central bank has been holding off on cuts to
interest rates, which would give the economy a boost, amid worries
about inflation staying higher than hoped because of Trump’s
sweeping tariffs.
Sharp swings in Treasury yields last week rattled markets worldwide,
as they rose in part on worries about the U.S. government’s rapidly
rising debt levels. Such swings have also hit Japan, where an
auction of 40-year Japanese government bonds on Wednesday drew less
interest from potential buyers than it’s seen since July.
After years of pumping money into the economy by buying loads of
Japanese government bonds, Japan’s central bank has been gradually
cutting back, undermining demand at a time when other institutional
investors also have been buying fewer Japanese government bonds.
Fewer buyers for bonds pushes up their yields.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly lower across much of
Europe and Asia.
South Korea was an exception, where the Kospi jumped 1.3% thanks in
part to gains for Samsung Electronics and other tech companies.
___
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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