Benchmark indices on Wall Street sold off from record levels on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 registering their first negative close of 2026. Indices fell after a series of remarks by US President Donald Trump and mixed economic data.
The Dow Jones fell nearly 500 points, giving up close to a third of the 1,500-point move seen in the last three sessions. The S&P 500 registered another intraday record high of 6,965 before closing in the red, while the Nasdaq managed to close with modest gains but not before correcting 150 points from its intraday high.
Trump first targeted institutional investors, stating that he will take steps to ensure they do not buy single family homes in a push towards making housing more affordable in the country. The remarks saw shares of Blackstone fall as much as 9%, followed by names like KB Home, DR Hunt and others, which fell between 3% to 5%. Blackstone recovered some of the losses to end over 5% lower.
The US President then went after Defence companies with reports indicating that he has signed an executive order that calls on them to stop carrying out share buybacks and issuing dividends to shareholders and instead, invest more in increasing production capacity and R&D. Shares of Defence companies such as Lockheed Martin fell between 5% to 6%, although most of them recovered in extended trading hours.
Economic data reported on Wednesday was mixed, with the ADP private payrolls growing at a slower than expected pace of 41,000 versus estimates of 50,000. The JOLTS job opening figures fell to the lowest in over a year, while the ISM Services PMI figure surged to the highest since October 2024.
A sharp fall was seen in prices of Silver and Platinum overnight, increasing volatility in an already choppy market. Citigroup has warned of outflows worth nearly $7 billion each in Gold and Silver this week as the commodity index rebalancing exercise takes place.
The US Dollar index strengthened towards the 99 mark, while crude oil prices remained stable near $60 per barrel. Later today, investors will be looking towards the initial jobless claims data, along with the trade deficit data.