4:10pm: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq all end lower on Powell comments
Major US stock indices finished down on the day, ending Wall Street’s three-day win streak.
Putting pressure on equities was a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who signaled the central bank would proceed cautiously on further rate cuts and suggested equities were "fairly highly valued."
The Nasdaq led the decline in the overall market, slipping nearly 1% to 22,574, while the S&P 500 gave back 0.6% to 6,657, and the Dow edged 0.2% lower to 46,293.
Weighing on the Nasdaq were shares of Nvidia, which ended down 2.8% a day after the AI chip giant announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI.
3:10pm: Proactive news headlines
- atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ATAI, ETR:9VC) and Beckley Psytech said their experimental nasal spray for depression showed promising results in a mid-stage clinical trial, bolstering hopes for a new treatment option in an area where existing therapies often fall short.
- T Stamp Inc (NASDAQ:IDAI, EURONEXT:AIID), doing business as Trust Stamp, announced what it called a “pioneering advancement” in digital identity and age verification with the introduction of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for remote human presence.
- Aftermath Silver Ltd (TSX-V:AAG, OTCQX:AAGFF) provided an outline of planned drilling for the Challacollo silver-gold project in Chile.
1:10pm: Dow, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq moves lower on Powell comments
US stocks were mixed midday after Federal Reserve Chair Powell, during a speech in Rhode Island, said he sees a “challenging situation" ahead for Fed.
The Nasdaq slipped 0.5%, while the S&P and Dow were essentially flat.
Weighing on the Nasdaq were shares of Nvidia, which were down 2.5%.
9.55am: Dow lifted by Boeing, Chevron, while Nvidia fall hits Nasdaq
Early trading on Wall Street is not painting a consistent picture, with the Dow Jones up 0.6% but the Nasdaq down 0.3%.
In between, the S&P 500 is three points to the good at 6,697.
Lifting the Dow are gains for Boeing (1.58%), Chevron (1.5%), Caterpillar (1.5%) and Johnson & Johnson (1.4%).
Top riser on the S&P is Tylenol maker Kenvue, followed by McKesson, Halliburton, Sempra Energy, Newmont, Carnival, Intel and Palantir.
Dragging on the Nasdaq are losses for Nvidia (1.8%), Microsoft (-0.6%) and Amazon (-1.5%).
8am: S&P 500 futures flat
Wall Street futures were pretty tepid ahead of Tuesday's session as traders awaited to listen to a speech from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Dow Jones futures were up less than 0.1%, while those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were just below flat.
This followed a session where technology stocks led the charge, with the Nasdaq climbing 0.7% to another record high, fuelled by strong gains from Nvidia, Apple and Oracle.
On Tuesday morning, the dollar index was little changed, Treasury yields were slightly softer, while WTI crude oil futures were 1.1% higher at $62.94.
Gold stood out again, rising another 0.9% to new highs above $3,781 an ounce as the China was reported by Bloomberg to be positioning its central bank as a new custodian of foreign reserves for ‘friendly’ countries.
This morning's data releases will include the US current account balance, a 'flash' reading of September manufacturing and services PMIs, and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index.
A two-year Treasury note auction will be held in the afternoon, and other Fed speakers will include vice chair for supervision Michelle Bowman and a second speech in two days from Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic.
Powell's speech is not until the afternoon.
During the European session, where stocks were modestly higher, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development upgraded its global economic growth forecast to 3.2% this year, from its 2.9% estimate in June.
The forecast for the US economy was also lifted to 1.8%, from 1.6%, still representing a sharp fall from the 2.8% growth in 2024. The OECD sees 1.5% growth for the US in 2026.
"Global growth was more resilient than anticipated in the first half of 2025, especially in many emerging-market economies," the organisation said.