Wall Street Slip: A Closer Look at the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Decline

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The U.S. stock market slipped on Wednesday, just a day after it had closed higher for three straight sessions. Traders seemed to be weighing what Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, and they also were waiting for more data later in the week.

Investors are moving carefully, because the central bank tries to juggle inflation worries while a softening job market looms. Powell noted on Tuesday that asset prices look fairly over‑valued. His peers split on the policy path, and the chair kept stressing the tightrope the Fed must walk.

The S&P 500 energy sub‑index rose about 2%, helped by rising crude oil prices. Consumer discretionary stocks nudged up 0.5%. Heavy‑weight tech, however, slipped around seven‑tenths of a percent, with Apple and Nvidia each losing just over 1%.

Data posted Wednesday showed new‑home sales for single‑family houses jumped 20.5 % in August, far above expectations. If the housing market is starting to regain some life, the Fed might read that as a sign there’s less room to lower rates.

US–listed Chinese firms also climbed, led by an almost nine percent jump in Alibaba after it announced a tie‑up with Nvidia.

Lithium Americas shares nearly doubled after a report said the government might seek a ten percent equity stake. Talks are ongoing for a loan over $2.26 billion to fund the Thacker Pass project with General Motors, which itself rose a little over 1%. UBS even upgraded GM to “buy” from “neutral”.

Micron Technology fell four percent after its quarterly numbers came out. Oracle slipped three and a half percent after a story that the company plans to raise fifteen billion dollars in bonds.

Freeport‑McMoRan tumbled eleven point seven percent, citing lower copper and gold sales for the third quarter.

Overall, the market shows mixed signals – optimism in some sectors, caution in others – and investors seem to be waiting for clearer direction. Time will tell what's next.

A Case for the Rally to Continue

There has been a lot of talk around valuations of late with Fed Chair Powell having his say as well.

However, looking at research by Goldman Sachs the S&P 500 is trading near fair value, and earnings growth is set to underpin further upside as the economy gains momentum into next year.

Source: IsabelNet, Goldman Sachs

On the flip side, Most S&P 500 sectors are valued above their historical averages. This indicates optimism around earnings and macroeconomic stability, though it also heightens the risk of a pullback if growth falters.

Source: IsabelNet, Goldman Sachs

Given the concerns around growth in the second half of the year this may be something that could come into play as we gear up for earnings season once more.

However if the AI wave continues to drive on, that could offset losses in some sectors especially when it comes to US Indexes.

Looking at the short-term, the end of September is usually a bad time for US stocks. This was also the case for September in general, but markets have shrugged that off this year. The question now heading into the last week of the month is whether a pullback will materialize?

Source: Carson Research, IsabelNet

Looking Ahead

Market participants will now focus on personal consumption expenditures data, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due for release later this week.

There is also a host of Fed speakers sharing their thoughts on monetary policy moving forward as well as University of Michigan sentiment data which will be released on Friday.

For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar. (click to enlarge)

Technical Analysis - Nasdaq 100

From a technical perspective, the Nasdaq 100 has had a change of structure on the four-hour chart.

the index has now printed a lower high and lower low but has run into the ascending trendline from the beginning of September.

This does leave the Nasdaq in an interesting position for the rest of the week.

The period-14 RSI has dipped below the 50 level which also signals a shift to bearish momentum.

Immediate resistance rests at 24667 before the all-time high comes back into focus.

Keep an eye on the RSI, if it moves back above the 50 level it could be seen as a sign that bulls have returned and fresh highs may be on the horizon.

A trendline break opens up the potential for a deeper retracement toward the 24200 before the confluence level at 24000 comes into focus.

Nasdaq 100 Four-Hour Chart, September 24, 2025

Source: TradingView (click to enlarge)

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