Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Oct. 20, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stocks fell slightly on Wednesday as traders assessed the latest batch of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 92 points lower, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4%.
Netflix shares slumped 8% after the company posted an earnings miss, while Intuitive Surgical shares rallied 15% on the back of its strong earnings and revenue results.
The Dow is coming off a record-setting session, briefly topping 47,000 on Tuesday, thanks to strong results from Coca-Cola and 3M. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq lagged, however, after President Donald Trump commented about his expected meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He noted that “maybe it won’t happen.”
Still, investors are hopeful that the flurry of upcoming earnings reports could be the next catalyst that U.S. equities need to keep rallying. Tesla’s earnings expected Wednesday after the bell will kick off highly-awaited reports from the “Magnificent Seven” megacap tech group. More than three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have posted results so far have beaten expectations, according to FactSet.
“Ultimately, if earnings come in better than expected, and if the tech stocks really prove that the AI trade is intact, you have your next leg higher from here,” Alicia Levine, BNY Wealth head of investment strategy and equities, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
“You really have to get through that 6,800 level on the S&P to really be convinced that there’s another leg here. That’s on the technical side, but on the fundamental side, I think we get there,” Levine added.
The September consumer price index report due Friday is another key event traders are awaiting this week, particularly because all other data releases have been suspended during the U.S. government shutdown, which is now in its 22nd day. The inflation data should give central bankers more information ahead of their upcoming meeting in late October.
Markets are widely expecting the Federal Reserve to announce a quarter percentage point reduction in the overnight borrowing rate, and likely another cut in December.
