LIVE MARKETS-Growth stock weakness weighs, but late strength helps cut S&P 500, Nasdaq losses

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GROWTH STOCK WEAKNESS WEIGHS, BUT LATE STRENGTH HELPS CUT S&P 500, NASDAQ LOSSES

Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed on Wednesday, with a selloff in tech stocks driving the Nasdaq to a two-week low as caution prevailed ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated Jackson Hole symposium this week.

Investors also monitored President Trump's call for the resignation of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, with the president citing allegations that she was involved in mortgage fraud.

Meanwhile, the two Federal Reserve policymakers who dissented against the U.S. central bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged last month appear not to have been joined by other policymakers in voicing support for lowering rates at that meeting, the minutes of the gathering released on Wednesday showed.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller both voted against the decision to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged, favoring instead a quarter-percentage-point reduction to guard against further weakening of the job market.

Not even 48 hours after the conclusion of last month's meeting, data from the Labor Department appeared to validate the concerns of Bowman and Waller when it showed far fewer jobs than expected were created in July, a rise in the unemployment rate and a drop in the labor force participation rate to the lowest level since late 2022.

In any event, after sliding nearly 2% into its mid-morning low on Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC ended down about 0.7%. The S&P 500 index .SPX, which was off just over 1%, finished down just 0.24%. The Dow .DJI eked out a gain, ending up 0.04% at 44,938.31. The blue-chip average finished down just 0.17% from its December 4, 2024 record close of 45,014.04.

A majority of S&P 500 sectors actually rose on the day with Energy .SPNY, up 0.86%, posting the biggest rise. Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD and Tech .SPLRCT were the two weakest groups, losing about 1.2% and 0.8% respectively.

Chips .SOX, FANGs .NYFANG, and the Mag 7 MAGS.K continue to be pressured. However, unlike Tuesday, the Dow Transportation Average .DJT also sold off sharply.

With this, S&P 500 Growth .IGX is on track for its worst week relative to S&P 500 Value .IVX since mid-April.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood just shortly after 4:00 p.m. EDT:

(Terence Gabriel)

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