U.S. stocks open lower on Wednesday as tech drags
Stocks opened lower on Wall Street Wednesday, with the largest losses going to technology companies and banks.
Apple was off 1.4 percent in early trading, while JPMorgan Chase was down about 1 percent.
Target slumped 9 percent after issuing a weak forecast for the holiday shopping season. Other retailers were also lower.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 18 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,559. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 158 points, or 0.7 percent, to 23,247. The Nasdaq composite index fell 64 points, or 1 percent, to 6,673.
"A retracement may spread uncertainty and prompt further losses across equities and commodities, with the market cooling as a 'risk-off' sentiment prevails," said George Wilkes, an analyst with Sucden Financial Research, in a note. "Conversely, the bullish sentiment that has dictated the equity and metals space in recent months may return with investors buying on the dip."
"Today's session will help to confirm the move or write it off as a correction but yesterday's equally weak dollar questions this. Gold held firm suggesting that something may be brewing in the market."
The weakness appears to stem in part from China, whose economy is slowing down as the year nears its send.
"The October data available so far suggest that China's economy is starting to slow after growing at a rapid pace through most of this year," analysts with Capital Economics wrote in a report. "Real investment and property sales were both lower last month than a year before. Industrial production growth was the slowest in over a year."
Elsewhere, small-cap stocks have dropped to two-month lows and inflation remains sluggish. But underlying economic growth in the U.S. remains strong, with consumer spending rising solidly every month August through October.
