Stocks Falter, Metals Fall As Traders Turn Cautious Ahead Of Fed Minutes, Nvidia Earnings; First Solar Hits Record Highs: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?
Wall Street experienced a muted session on Wednesday morning as traders adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes release at 2 p.m. EDT and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) earnings announcement after the market close.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2%, slightly outperforming other major indices, with the S&P 500 and the Dow both in negative territory by midday in New York.
Small caps, tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), fell by 0.4%.
Significant gains were observed in solar and clean energy industries. The Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE:TAN) surged nearly 9%, and the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (NYSE:PBW) jumped 5%. These gains were likely driven by newly announced trade tariff modifications on solar manufacturing equipment by the United States Trade Representative.
Notably, First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) soared 16% to fresh all-time highs, on track for its top-performing session gains in over a year.
Treasury yields remained steady, while the U.S. dollar index (DXY) strengthened by 0.2%. Traders are currently pricing in a 42-basis-point reduction in Federal Reserve rates by year-end.
In the commodities markets, metals saw significant declines, with gold, silver and copper falling 1.2%, 2% and 4.9%, respectively, with copper particularly affected by reports of abundant inventories in China.
Natural gas prices rallied over 4%, while oil prices eased by 0.6%. In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) remained flat at $70,400.
Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Nasdaq 100 | 18,745.23 | 0.2% |
| S&P 500 | 5,318.84 | 0.0% |
| Dow Jones | 39,809.02 | -0.2% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,093.71 | -0.3% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.1% lower to $530.75, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) fell 0.2% to $397.99 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) was up 0.1% to $456.34, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Among sectors, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up by 0.5%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged behind, dropping 1.8%, likely impacted by news of the Biden administration directing the Department of Energy to release 1 million barrels of gasoline from strategic reserves.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
- Other than First Solar, solar stocks rallying on Wednesday included Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH) up 9%, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR), up 28% and Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MAXN) up 27%.
- Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 3%, after the EV maker reported a decline in annual sales in Europe.
- TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE:TJX) rose 6% in reaction to quarterly earnings.
- Other companies reacting to earnings were Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI), up 8.8%, Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT), down 7.5%, Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE:WSM), down 6.7%, Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE:DY), up 8.5%, Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL), down 7.2%, XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP), down 12%, Brady Corp. (NYSE:BRC), up 8.8%, Golden Ocean Group Ltd (NASDAQ:GOGL), down 9.5% and ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) down 15%.
- Companies slated to report their earnings after the close include Nvidia Corp, Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS), Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), V.F. Corp. (NYSE:VFC) and BBB Funds Inc. (NYSE:TBBB).
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