Stock market today: Live updates
Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Aug. 4, 2022.
Stock futures inched lower late Wednesday after the market wrapped the month of May, marked by a dramatic rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 47 points, or 0.14%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both inched lower.
Nordstrom jumped 7% in extended trading after its fiscal first-quarter sales beat Wall Street's expectations. Salesforce shares fell about 6% after the software company bumped up its full-year forecast but reported higher capital expenses than expected.
The Nasdaq Composite ended May with a 5.8% gain as enthusiasm around AI continued to boost related stocks. Chipmaker Nvidia jumped 36% in May, briefly touching a $1 trillion market cap this week. Alphabet , Meta and Amazon all rose at least 10% during the month.
Outside of tech, gains were hard to come by, however. The S&P 500 inched up 0.3% in the month, while the blue-chip Dow fell almost 3.5%, dragged down by Nike , Walt Disney and Chevron .
"We have been impressed by the resilience of this market since the March low, absorbing a relentless onslaught of negative sentiment and headlines," said Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler.
Investors are closely watching a bill that would raise the debt ceiling and cut government spending. The measure passed a key procedural hurdle in the House on Wednesday, clearing its path to a final vote on the floor later in the evening.
Congress is rushing to approve the measure by Monday, the earliest date the U.S. risks a sovereign default.
"While a deal in Washington could be a catalyst for a breakout, overbought conditions in the technology sector and mega-cap space … could make this a high hurdle for the market to clear on a near-term basis, especially without broader participation," said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial.
Beyond the debt ceiling battle, investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's June 13-14 policy meeting as another possible market catalyst. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said Wednesday that he's leaning toward skipping a rate hike at the upcoming gathering. However, he added that Friday's payrolls report could change his mind.
A slew of economic data is set for release Thursday, including weekly jobless claims and the purchasing managers' index.
Source: CNBC
