Wall Street Mixed Ahead Of Fed Meeting, Alphabet Sinks: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

U.S. stocks traded mixed at midday Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision, with Chair Jerome Powell set to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Trade developments continued to influence market sentiment. During a Senate hearing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that initial talks with China will begin in Switzerland later this week, though he emphasized they are only preliminary.

Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL led notable decliners, plunging over 7% after a Bloomberg report indicated an Apple executive's testimony suggested AI may be eroding traditional search market share.

The Dow Jones outperformed, while tech-heavy indexes like the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 lagged under pressure from Alphabet’s sharp decline. Sector performance was positive overall, with modest gains led by financials.

In commodities, U.S. natural gas prices at the Henry Hub surged over 5% to $3.640 per million British units, driven by recovering feedgas flows to Freeport LNG and forecasts for early-season heat boosting demand.

Gold retreated 1.5% after a strong two-day rally, while oil dipped 1.2% to $58.30 following a brief spike to $60 overnight.

Bitcoin BTC/USD held steady at around $96,800.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY inched 0.2% up to $559.98.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.7% to $410.96.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ fell 0.2% to $480.71.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rose 0.6% to $197.89.
• The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF outperformed, up 0.9%; the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC lagged, down 0.8%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

Stocks reacting to earnings included:

• Arista Networks Inc. ANET down 6.84%
• Gen Digital Inc. GEN up 9.16%
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD up 0.89%
• International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. IFF down 6.09%
• Electronic Arts Inc. EA up 0.41%
• Mosaic Co. MOS up 3.58%
• Corpay Inc. CPAY down 1.80%
• Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN up 0.56%
• Jack Henry & Associates Inc. JKHY down 0.67%
• Devon Energy Corporation DVN down 0.16%
• Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI down 6.04%
• Coty Inc. COTY down 9.09%
• Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN down 2.90%
• The Walt Disney Company DIS up 11.46%
• Uber Technologies, Inc. UBER down 2.02%
• Emerson Electric Co. EMR up 2.72%
• Johnson Controls International plc JCI up 1.52%
• Vistra Corp. VST down 4.78%
• Verisk Analytics, Inc. VRSK up 4.22%
• Rockwell Automation, Inc. ROK up 12.29%
• Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. CQP down 0.82%
• CDW Corporation CDW up 6.90%
• NiSource Inc. NI up 3.13%

Stocks slated to report earnings after the close include Fortinet Inc. FTNT, Axon Enterprise Inc. AAXN, Corteva Inc. CTVA, Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY, Texas Pacific Land Corporation TPL, Atmos Energy Corporation ATO, Fidelity National Financial Inc. FNF, and Western Gas Partners LP WES.

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Powell will be speaking at 2:30 p.m. ET. Watch below.

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