US stock benchmarks pulled back on Wednesday as rebounding crude oil prices spooked Wall Street while traders braced for the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate announcement.
As of 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 sank 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1% lower.
At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73.1 points, or 0.14%, to 52674.21. The S&P 500 fell 10.6 points, or 0.14%, to 7418.16, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.4 points, or 0.05%, to 24863.48.
Market attention remains locked on the central bank’s two-day policy gathering. Market participants broadly anticipate a rate hike, which would mark the Fed’s first monetary tightening move in three years. Data from the CME Group indicates traders are pricing in roughly a 36% chance of a rate increase.
Energy markets rallied following renewed conflict involving Iran, stoking fresh anxieties over global supply chains. Brent crude surged 6% to hit $87.01 per barrel after Iranian forces fired missiles at U.S. targets in the Middle East, prompting joint U.S. and Saudi airstrikes against Tehran-aligned militias in Iraq.
Concurrently, bond yields tracked energy prices higher, with the 10-year Treasury yield edging up to 4.63% from Tuesday’s 4.61%.
Major Market Movers
Tech heavyweights took a hit—Nvidia tumbled 2.6%, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 4.4%, and Micron Technology lost 3.7%.
KLA Corp. plummeted 8% despite beating quarterly profit and revenue estimates.
Bucking the broader sell-off, Apple managed a modest gain of 0.3%.
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