Investing.com-- Dow jumped Wednesday, led by financial and energy as the rotation away from tech was accelerated following an Nvidia-led retreat in tech on geopolitical jitters.
At 15:13 ET (19:13 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228 points, or 0.6%, and had earlier hit a fresh record high of 41,211.12. While S&P 500 dropped 1.3%, and NASDAQ Composite slumped 2.6% and remain on course for its worst day since late 2022.
Nvidia leads tech stocks sharply on worries of deeper China chip ban
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell more than 6% on concerns the U.S. is looking to deepened its ban on companies exporting chipmaking equipment to China.
The Biden administration is considering clamping down on companies exporting their critical chipmaking equipment to China, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
As well as Biden, Donald Trump also raised geopolitical tensions by stating that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for supplying defense equipment as "it does not give the country anything," causing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM), Taiwan’s biggest stock and the largest contract chipmaker in the world, to fall 7%.
The fresh geopolitical jitters dented sentiment on tech, forcing Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) lower, accelerating the ongoing rotation out of megacap tech stocks.
Earnings season continues as Johnson & Johnson delights, but Spirit Airlines , JB Hunt falter
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock rose nearly 4% after the the healthcare giant reported a robust second quarter, with both earnings and revenue surpassing Wall Street estimates, driven by strong sales of its drugs.
Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) stock slumped 11% after the carrier lowered its second-quarter revenue outlook, citing lower-than-expected non-ticket revenue.
JB Hunt (NASDAQ:JBHT) stock fell nearly 7% after the transportation company reported a 24% drop in second-quarter profit as well as a 7% decrease in total operating revenue.
Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) stock slumped 25% after the discount retailer said that its CEO Joel Anderson had stepped down and preannounced second-quarter guidance that fell short of estimates.
Fed speakers signal rate cuts getting closer
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Wednesday said that the timing on rate cuts were drawing closer following recent data showing a more moderate economic growth and declining inflation pressures.
“While I don’t believe we have reached our final destination, I do believe we are getting closer to the time when a cut in the policy rate is warranted,” Waller said for a speech at a Kansas City Fed event.
Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin, meanwhile, said he was started to see the slowdown in inflation broaden out, but added that the central bank would debate whether inflation is still elevated at the upcoming July meeting.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)