Stock Market Today: Stocks Stay Shaky Amid Fed Uncertainty
The energy sector was a notable decliner as U.S. crude futures slumped to their lowest close of the year.
Stocks continued to sell off Tuesday, with the S&P 500 extending its daily losing streak to four. Amid a relatively bare economic calendar, investors' attention continued to be focused on next week's Federal Reserve meeting. Uncertainty over the central bank's next steps regarding monetary policy is impacting price action, particularly following the recent releases of data showing the U.S. economy remains resilient even in the face of this year's aggressive rate-hiking campaign.
"Market consolidation continues in U.S. equities as investors weigh the odds and impact of future Fed moves against persistent inflation and the threat of recession," says Dan Wantrobski, technical strategist and associate director of research at Janney Montgomery Scott. The market will likely remain choppy-to-higher into year-end, "with more emphasis on the 'choppy' part over the near-term," Wantrobski adds, "as benchmarks like the S&P digest recent gains against a still uncertain macro climate heading into the New Year."
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Looking at today's price action, 10 of the 11 sectors finished in the red. Communication services (-2.9%) suffered the biggest drop on weakness in social media stocks Meta Platforms (META, -6.8%) and Snap (SNAP, -6.7%). Energy (-2.6%) was also a notable decliner as U.S. crude futures plummeted 3.5% to $74.25 per barrel – their lowest settlement of the year.
As for the major indexes, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.0% to 11,014, the broader S&P 500 Index fell 1.4% to 3,941, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 1.0% to 33,596.
The Investment Case for Intel Stock
Semiconductor stocks had another miserable session, but one notable name had a less-terrible day than its peers. Intel (INTC) shed 2.0%, which wasn't great, but it was still better than fellow chip stocks Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, -4.6%) and Nvidia (NVDA, -3.8%). This comes after the chipmaker on Monday said it is on track to regain market share it has lost to competitors over the years.
"Whether INTC can catch up on manufacturing remains debatable, but we remain impressed by management's commitment to making the organization far more efficient and cost effective," says UBS Global Research analyst Timothy Arcuri, who has a Neutral (Hold) rating on INTC stock. Arcuri's not alone in his view that Intel remains a "show-me" story, but should investors feel that way too? Read on as we take a closer look at the investment case for Intel stock.
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