The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday as traders continued to move out of technology stocks and digested the latest labor market data.
The Dow Jones Industrials vaulted 260.31 points to 49,501.30.
The much broader index sagged 35.09 points to 6,882.72
The NASDAQ stumbled 350.61 points, or 1.5%. to 22,904.58
Shares of AMD weighed on the broader market, pulling back 16% after its first-quarter forecast underwhelmed some analysts.
Defending the results, CEO Lisa Su told reporters Wednesday that the company has seen an increase in demand in recent months, saying, “AI is accelerating at a pace that I would not have imagined.”
Still, other names in the chips space such as Broadcom and Micron Technology suffered losses as well. The former was down 3%, while the latter fell 9%.
Some software stocks also continued to face pressure, including Oracle and CrowdStrike, which extended their decline from the prior trading day. Oracle shed 4%, while CrowdStrike lost more than 1%. While the group has been a source of weakness recently, certain names like Microsoft found stability Wednesday. That stock was up 1%.
For the Dow, Amgen was among the names fueling outperformance. The biotechnology stock was higher by 8% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter.
Honeywell also offered a boost to the index, rising more than 1% as investors moved from tech into more value-oriented names.
Meanwhile, ADP on Wednesday released its monthly look at private payroll growth for January, which showed an increase of just 22,000 on the month. That’s below the gain of 45,000 jobs that economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast.
The release generally precedes the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on nonfarm payrolls, but that won’t be out this week due to the partial government shutdown. The shutdown, which began Saturday, officially ended Tuesday, when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury nicked lower, raising yields to 4.28% from Tuesday’s 4.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.10 to $64.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices leaped $28.50 to $4,963.50 U.S. an ounce.
