NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are moving broadly lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday, led by drops in big technology companies and erasing the S&P 500′s gains for the week.
The S&P 500 slipped 1.1% as of 12:03 p.m. Eastern. Trading has been choppy throughout the week as the benchmark index comes off a four-week winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, or 0.8%, to 33,880 and the Nasdaq fell 1.7%.
Small-company stocks fell more sharply than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 fell 2%.
Pricey technology companies and retailers had some of the biggest losses. Utilities and makers of essential consumer products, which are typically considered less risky, held up better than the broader market.
Wall Street was absorbing a mix of retail updates that showed inflation pressure continues to affect businesses and consumers, but also shows that spending remains strong.
Target fell 3.2% after reporting a nearly 90% plunge in second quarter profits as it was forced to slash prices to clear unwanted inventories. The retailer warned earlier this summer that it was canceling orders from suppliers and aggressively cutting prices because of a pronounced spending shift by Americans as the pandemic eased.