The Dow Jones Industrials fell short of breakeven 45.66 points to end the session at 37,753.31. With the retreat, it was the Dow’s seventh negative day of the last eight.
The much-broader index faded 29.2 points to 5,022.21.
The NASDAQ sank 181.88 points, or 1.2%, to 15,683.37.
Wednesday marks the third straight session when stocks opened higher but faded as the day wore on. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite both notched four-day losing streaks, the longest for each since periods ending in early January.
Stocks felt pressure in afternoon trading as artificial intelligence darling Nvidia swung to losses. The mega-cap technology stock fell nearly 4%, joining fellow big tech names including Netflix, Meta, Apple and Microsoft in the red. Tech was the worst-performing S&P 500 sector, falling 1.7%.
Notably, United Airlines surged more than 17% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss and beating on revenue. On the other hand, J.B. Hunt Transport Services dropped more than 8% after missing analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines.
That performance comes amid a bout of weakness that has marked a reprieve from the strong gains seen in the first quarter and in 2023. The Dow has slid more than 5% in April, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite have tumbled more than 4%.
The new earnings season is off to a promising start. While less than 10% of S&P 500-listed companies have reported financials so far, more than three out of every four have surpassed Wall Street expectations.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury hiked, dropping yields to 4.58% from Tuesday’s 4.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices declined $2.59 to $82.77 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices floundered $19.20, to $2,388.60 U.S. an ounce.