Stocks took a late turn lower on Wall Street, ending with their second straight loss. The S&P 500 gave up 1.1% Wednesday, a day after breaking a five-day winning streak. Technology and health care companies had some of the biggest losses. Apple fell 2.6%. Markets didn’t react much to minutes released in the afternoon from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, which confirmed that Fed policymakers have made no firm decision about when to start unwinding their support measures for the economy. The S&P 500 fell 47.81 points, to 4,400.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 382.59 points, or 1.1%, to 34,960.69. The Nasdaq fell 130.27 points, or 0.9%, to 14,525.91.
The slide in health care and technology stocks helped pull the S&P 500 lower. A mix of companies that sell food and personal goods also fell. Those losses outweighed gains by communication stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending, the AP reports. Even so, the S&P remains near the all-time high it set on Monday. Earnings season is winding down, with retailers being among the last industries to report. Lowe's rose 9.6% after the home improvement company reported results that were better than expected. It also gave an upbeat forecast. That's in contrast to Home Depot, which the day before seemed to indicate a slowing down in sales after the do-it-yourself boom in the pandemic. Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison says consumers are still spending a lot of money on their homes and efforts to attract more home professionals are also gaining traction, CNBC reports.
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