Stocks struggled for direction on Wednesday as the major averages fought to recover, and the market prepared to close out the worst first half of the year since 1970. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a choppy day of trading higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished just below the flat line. Those moves came after two days of losses, which followed a big rebound last week for stocks. All of the major averages are on pace for a negative second quarter, which will end Thursday.
The three major indexes fluctuated in and out of positive territory. Cruise stocks contributed to the averages' decline after Morgan Stanley introduced a $0 bear case for Carnival Corp. Semiconductor stocks were also big losers after Bank of America downgraded several chipmakers based on increasing competition.
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On the flip side, megacap tech stocks including Amazon, Meta Platforms, Apple and Microsoft were notable gainers. General Mills led the S&P 500 after reporting strong quarterly earnings.
Early in the day, Fed member Loretta Mester said she will advocate for a 75 basis point interest rate hike at the central bank's July meeting if economic conditions remain the same between now and then.
Investors continue to seek a market bottom, with many expecting further volatility until the central bank pulls back a bit on its monetary tightening. |
