United States benchmark averages closed lower on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), with banking stocks continuing to slide and Nvidia dropping as its China sales were cast into doubt.
The S&P 500 shed 0.5% to close at 6,926.60 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1% to 49,149.63 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% to 23,471.75.
Banking stocks continued to slip for a third straight day, having begun declining after U.S. President Donald Trump called for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates from this month.
The S&P 500’s financials index lost 0.2%. Bank of America shares fell 3.8%, Citigroup dropped 3.3% and Wells Fargo shed 4.6% after reporting earnings today, despite all three beating earnings per share estimates.
JPMorgan Chase, which released earnings yesterday, also slid 1%. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will both report earnings tomorrow, and were down 0.6% and 1.1% respectively.
“After a nice run, and so-so or mediocre earnings, you're seeing profit-taking and consolidation” in banking stocks, JonesTrading Chief Market Strategist Michael O’Rourke said. The S&P’s financials index is up 13.8% across the past 12 months.
Technology stocks also decreased with the S&P’s tech index dropping 1.5%.
Nvidia fell 1.4% as China’s Government told customs agents this week that Nvidia’s H200 chips were not allowed to enter China, according to Reuters. It also reportedly told technology companies that it would only approve H200 purchases under special circumstances.
Other semiconductors stocks declined, with Broadcom down 4.2% and Micron dipping 1.4%. AMD was up 1.2% and Intel rose 3%, however.
Meanwhile, the U.S. reported better-than-expected retail sales data for November. Sales were up 0.6%, beating FactSet estimates of 0.4% and rising after a 0.1% decrease in October.
Two-year bond yields fell 0.01% to 3.516% and 10-year yields were down 0.03% to 4.138%.
