Wall Street's main indexes fell on Thursday as investors feared potentially hawkish remarks by the Federal Reserve chair on Friday that could spark volatility, while big-box retailer Walmart's quarterly results dampened sentiment.
All eyes are on the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Traders will closely monitor his speech for any clues on U.S. interest rate cuts in September following recent job market weakness.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152.81 points, or 0.34%, to 44,785.50, the S&P 500 lost 25.61 points, or 0.40%, to 6,370.17 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 72.54 points, or 0.34%, to 21,100.31. Opendoor Technologies Inc up 12%, Bullish up 11%, Tempus AI up 5%, SharpLink Gaming fell 7%, Circle Internet Corp. fell 4%.
Market Movers
Wal-Mart reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 68 cents a share, missing analysts' estimates of 73 cents. Revenue of $177.4 billion topped estimates of $175.9 billion. Shares fell 4.5% even as Walmart raised its financial guidance and said the "impact of tariffs has been gradual enough that any behavioral adjustments by the customer have been somewhat muted."
Palantir Technologies was up 0.1% after shares of the artificial-intelligence data company closed lower Wednesday for a sixth-straight session. The stock has declined almost 17% over that span, which equals its longest losing streak since April 2024, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Chinese ADRs shined on Thursday. XPeng up around 12%; NIO up over 9%; PDD Holdings up over 4%.
Like Palantir, Nvidia has been swept up in a selloff of expensive technology stocks, particularly those tied to AI. Shares of the leading maker of AI chips also have been pressured, closing lower for two straight days and three of the past four trading sessions.
Over the prior two sessions, Nvidia had declined 3.6%, the stock's worst two-day stretch since April 21, when it fell 7.25%. In trading Thursday, the stock was down 0.2%.
Chip maker Intel was down 0.2%. Shares dropped 7% on Wednesday, the stock's worst session since July 25, when it fell 8.5%. The shares, however, coming into Thursday have gained 19% in August as the U.S. government considers taking a sizable stake in the company, and Japan's SoftBank earlier this week announced a $2 billion investment in Intel.
Renewable energy stocks fell after President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the U.S. won't approve solar or wind power projects. First Solar fell 7%, Sunrun declined 4.7%, and SolarEdge fell 5.8%. Shares of clean energy companies jumped last week after new rules for tax credits from the Treasury Department weren't as bad as many investors had feared.
Nordson rose 3%. The manufacturing company posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings and raised fiscal-year guidance.
Coty tumbled 22% after the cosmetics company reported a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 5 cents a share, while analysts expected a profit of 1 cent a share. Revenue in the period fell 8%. Coty said it anticipates "steady, sequential trend improvement" in like-for-like sales and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization through fiscal 2026, and that it will return to growth in the second half of the year.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 3.7% to $21.82 after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised their price target to $28 from $22. The stock is at an attractive valuation and the recent acquisition of Juniper Networks adds to HPE's 2026 and 2027 earnings potential, the analysts said.
Instacart, Inc. (Maplebear Inc.) declined 2.2% to $44.54. Shares of the grocery delivery company were downgraded by analysts at Wedbush to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $42, down from $55.
Market News
Palantir Shorts Reap Billions Amid Selloff - Report
Palantir Technologies Inc. has shed $73 billion in market value over a six-session slide, offering a rare boost to short sellers who’ve struggled against one of Wall Street’s top performers this year.
Shares have fallen more than 17% since their Aug. 12 record high, marking their longest losing streak since April 2024 and setting up the stock for its worst week since early April’s tariff-driven selloff.
The plunge has delivered more than $1.6 billion in profits for short sellers, Bloomberg reported, citing data from S3 Partners, though it only partially offsets the $4.5 billion in paper losses they’ve racked up betting against the stock this year.
Meta Signs $10 Billion-Plus Cloud Deal with Google, The Information Reports
Alphabet has struck a major cloud computing deal worth more than $10 billion with Meta Platforms, Inc., The Information reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Under the agreement, Meta will use Google Cloud's servers, storage, networking and other services, the report said.
Trump Weighs Using $2 Billion in CHIPS Act Funding for Critical Minerals, Sources Say
The Trump administration is considering a plan to reallocate at least $2 billion from the CHIPS Act to fund critical minerals projects and boost Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's influence over the strategic sector, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The proposed move would take from funds already allocated by Congress for semiconductor research and chip factory construction, avoiding a fresh spending request as it seeks to reduce U.S. dependence on China for critical minerals used widely in the electronics and defense industries.
