by Chuck Mikolajczak
(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended lower on Wednesday, on the eve of the publication of a closely watched inflation indicator by the American Federal Reserve (Fed).
The Dow Jones index fell 0.06%, or 23.39 points, to 38,949.02 points.
The broader S&P-500 lost 8.42 points, or 0.17%, to 5,069.76 points.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 87.56 points (0.55%) to 15,947.738 points.
The US PCE price index, which will be released on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. GMT, is expected to show an acceleration to 0.3% month-on-month in January.
Markets are struggling to maintain momentum after last week’s rally led by semiconductor maker Nvidia.
Investors fear continued inflationary pressures, as shown by recent consumer price (CPI) and producer price (PPI) data recorded in the United States.
“While the earnings catalyst is now behind us, we could see some weakness as the market adjusts to the path of inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response, whether rhetorical or a policy where rates could remain high for longer,” said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.
“Any sign of a resurgence of inflation will certainly be taken very seriously by the markets,” he added.
The second estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) released Wednesday by the US Department of Commerce showed that growth in the US economy was slightly weaker than initially expected in the fourth quarter.
In stocks, UnitedHealth fell after announcing Tuesday that the US Department of Justice had opened an antitrust investigation against it.
Applied Materials was down after being subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US stock market watchdog, to obtain information relating to certain deliveries to Chinese customers.
Beyond Meat rose after announcing a price increase for its products and a reduction in costs.
Cryptoasset groups Coinbase Global, Bitfarms and Marathon Digital also advanced as bitcoin [BTC=] exceeded the symbolic mark of 60,000 dollars.
( Camille Raynaud)
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