The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down 412.61 (-0.8780%) points today, reaching 46,580.65. The primary narrative driving the market was the Federal Reserve's mid-week policy announcement. Investors reacted to a hawkish stance from the FOMC, which opted to keep interest rates unchanged while signaling that persistent inflation might delay anticipated cuts. This sent Dow Futures (YM=F) down 462.00 (-0.9758%) points to 46,886.00, as Treasury yields climbed in response to the "higher-for-longer" rhetoric.
Energy and heavy industrials provided the only significant resistance to the slide. Chevron (CVX) was up 0.81% at $199.59, buoyed by rising crude prices. Caterpillar (CAT) was up 0.66% to $706.19, and Goldman Sachs (GS) was up 0.54% at $810.95. Other gainers included Honeywell (HON), which was up 0.51%, and Nvidia (NVDA), which was up 0.25% at $182.40.
Conversely, consumer-facing and high-valuation stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off. Visa (V) was down 2.87% at $299.89, while 3M (MMM) was down 2.58% to $145.27. Amgen (AMGN) was down 2.54%, and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) was down 2.46%. Large-cap tech also struggled, with Microsoft (MSFT) down 1.44% and Apple (AAPL) down 1.33%. Retail giants like Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) were down 2.05% and 2.07% respectively, reflecting concerns over consumer spending power in a high-rate environment.
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications.