Wall Street turned back to the risk-off playbook amid a flood of murky economic data on Wednesday.
With the S&P 500 down 0.9%, only 140 stocks in the index were rising. At the sector level, only consumer staples and health care were holding up. Consumer discretionary was the biggest laggard among the major S&P 500 sectors.
The Dow was down 220 points, or 0.5%. Its top stocks included telecoms and healthcare firms, among other safer stocks. On the flip side, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 1.3%.
The Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF was only down 0.2%, compared to the Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF’s 1.2% decline.
Bonds were also rising as their yields pulled back. The 2-year Treasury note’s yield was down to 3.62%, while the 10-year yield was down to 4.17%.
Things could shift dramatically when Big Tech firms Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon.com report results after the close today and tomorrow. Of course, signs of weakness could keep the risk-off trade rolling until Friday’s jobs report.
