Nasdaq opened lower on Wednesday as stocks looked to steady after tech stocks led a rout that had major gauges slipping ahead of Federal Reserve meeting minutes and a key economic event this week.
Summary
- Nasdaq Composite opened lower on Wednesday, with the tech heavy index shedding 0.5% in early trades.
- Stocks were showing weakness as investors awaited Federal Reserve’s minutes.
- Bitcoin traded near $113,000 having fallen sharply along tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened about 60 points higher and the S&P 500 hovered just below the flat line, down 0.15%. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite opened more than 0.5% lower.
Nasdaq Composite’s slight dip follows Tuesday’s bruising outing for risk assets, with broader weakness for top tech stocks, including all of the “Magnificent Seven”: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla.
The downswing for these companies, as well as Palantir and others, dragged Nasdaq to a -1.46% close and the S&P 500 to a -0.59% close. The impact of this across the broader market saw the sell-off spread to cryptocurrencies and other risk assets as investors scrambled for safe-haven deals.
Bitcoin (BTC), the top digital asset, fell sharply to break to lows of $112,570 – well off its recent peak above $124k.
Corporate earnings
Overall weakness meant stocks and crypto traded lower in early deals during the U.S. session as Wall Street weighed market sentiment amid corporate earnings.
Notably, Target shares fell 9% after the retailer’s earnings report showed further declines in sales and as the company revealed a new chief executive officer expected to take over on Feb. 1, 2026. However, Lowe’s shares gained about 3% after its earnings beat expectations.
Fed minutes on deck
Also on investors’ minds is the Federal Reserve’s minutes for its July meeting, which will shed more light on the central bank’s interest rate outlook. The week also has all eyes on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who is set to speak at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming.
The event brings together economic policymakers, government officials and critical market players. Powell’s speech at the annual policy symposium comes on Friday morning, his last as he heads toward the end of his term in May 2026.
Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady at the previous meeting has left the market, per the CME Fedwatch tool, pricing in a higher chance of a cut in September.