U.S. markets ended marginally lower on Wednesday, as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of AI giant Nvidia’s second-quarter results. Sentiment also remained mildly downbeat following a closely watched Commerce Department report showing that U.S. consumer prices increased slightly more than expected in July. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.2 percent in July after edging down by 0.1 percent in June. Street had expected prices to inch up by 0.1 percent. The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index came in at 3.7 percent in July, unchanged from in June. The annual rate of growth was expected to dip to 3.6 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index rose 0.2 percent in July after increasing 0.1 percent in June. The annual growth rate of core PCE remained unchanged at 3.3 percent, in line with expectations.Additionally, the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026, slowing from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter and matching the preliminary estimate.
On the sectoral front, computer hardware and networking stocks advanced notably during the session, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index and the NYSE Arca Networking Index gaining 1.9 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Dow Jones Industrial Average down by 113.52 points or 0.21 percent to 53,463.88, Nasdaq declined 21.10 points or 0.08 percent to 26,130.19, and S&P 500 decreased 1.58 points or 0.02 percent to 7,675.7.
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