Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 404 Points Ahead of Powell's Testimony
The main indexes sold off sharply as anxiety ramped up ahead of tomorrow's congressional testimony from Fed Chair Powell.
Stocks opened in negative territory Tuesday and stayed there through the close. Another down day for mega-cap tech giant Apple (AAPL) created headwinds for the main indexes, as did anxiety ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's two-day congressional testimony and Friday's jobs report.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1% at 38,585, the S&P 500 was 1% lower at 5,078, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 1.7% at 15,939.
Apple stock lost another 2.8% Tuesday, bringing its year-to-date loss to 11.6%. Today's slide came after a report from Counterpoint Research indicated Chinese smartphone sales were down 7% year-over-year through the first six weeks of 2024.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Sales for Apple's iPhones, specifically, were 24% lower than the year prior amid "stiff competition at the high end from a resurgent Huawei," as well as "aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi," said Mengmeng Zhang, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, in the press release. China accounted for more than 17% of Apple's total revenue in its December quarter.
Here at home, Apple is facing a potential class-action lawsuit over its iCloud storage service.
Target has its best day of the year after earnings
In other single-stock news, Target (TGT) shot up 12% – marking its best day since November 15 when it surged 17.8% – after the discount retailer reported earnings. In its fourth quarter, TGT disclosed higher-than-expected earnings of $2.98 per share on $31.9 billion in revenue. Additionally, its operating income margin was 5.8% vs 3.7% in Q4 2022.
Still, Christina Hennington, chief growth officer at Target, warned in the company's earnings call that there are "stubborn pressures impacting families and retailers." Consumers, Hennington adds, are feeling "stretched" and are "having to make trade-offs to meet their needs of their families, while sprinkling in the occasional luxury."
Powell testimony, jobs data on deck
Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to Powell's appearance on Capitol Hill, with the Fed chief set to testify Wednesday morning in front of the House Financial Services Committee. On Thursday, he'll appear before the Senate Banking Committee.
And on Friday, the February jobs report is due out. Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, thinks one release on today's economic calendar hints at a "giveback in the February jobs report" vs January's strong reading of 353,000 new jobs added.
Specifically, Adams says a decline in the employment component of the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services sector Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), to 48.0 in February from January's 50.5, indicates "a majority of surveyed firms trimmed headcount" last month. Comerica anticipates Friday's payrolls report will show 180,000 new jobs added in February. Economists' average forecast calls for the creation of 200,000 jobs last month.
As for today's headline services PMI, it fell to 52.6% in February from January's 53.4%. In other words, while economic activity in the services sector expanded last month, it did so at a slower pace than what was seen at the start of the year.
Separate data from the Census Bureau released today showed factory orders were down 3.6% month-over-month in January.
Related content
- You Can Now Listen To Audiobooks On Spotify for $9.99. Is It Worth It?
- Get Two Free Doughnuts from Krispy Kreme on Super Tuesday
- GM Recalls Nearly 820,000 Trucks Over Tailgate Issue
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
How Prepaid Verizon Phone Service Works and When It's a Smart ChoiceExplore the differences between Verizon Prepaid and Verizon Postpaid plans—costs, perks, flexibility, and when going prepaid makes sense.
-
Try This One-Minute Test to Uncover Hidden Health RisksFinding out this little-known fact about your body could reveal your risk of heart disease and more. It's a simple, free check for healthy aging.
-
Social Security Wisdom From a Financial Adviser Receiving Benefits HimselfYou don't know what you don't know, and with Social Security, that can be a costly problem for retirees — one that can last a lifetime.
-
Take It From a Tax Expert: The True Measure of Your Retirement Readiness Isn't the Size of Your Nest EggA sizable nest egg is a good start, but your plan should include two to five years of basic expenses in conservative, liquid accounts as a buffer against market volatility, inflation and taxes.
-
Dow Adds 472 Points After September CPI: Stock Market TodayIBM and Advanced Micro Devices created tailwinds for the main indexes after scoring a major quantum-computing win.
-
October Fed Meeting: Live Updates and CommentaryThe October Fed meeting is a key economic event, with Wall Street waiting to see what Fed Chair Powell & Co. will do about interest rates.
-
The Delayed September CPI Report is Out. Here's What it Signals for the Fed.The September CPI report showed that inflation remains tame – and all but confirms another rate cut from the Fed.
-
New Opportunity Zone Rules Triple Tax Benefits for Rural Investments: Here's Your 2027 StrategyNew IRS guidance just reshaped the opportunity zone landscape for 2027. Here's what high-net-worth investors need to know about the enhanced rural benefits.
-
Honeywell Leads Dow Higher: Stock Market TodayOil prices got a lift after the Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies.
-
The OBBB Ushers in a New Era of Energy Investing: What You Need to Know About Tax Breaks and MoreThe new tax law has changed the energy investing landscape with expanded incentives and permanent tax benefits for oil and gas production.