US equities edged lower on Wednesday ahead of key earnings releases and an anticipated Federal Reserve rate hold. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq 100 all closed modestly in the red.
Megacap “hyperscaler” tech names—Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon, which together represent roughly $11 trillion in market capitalization—fell between 1% and 2% ahead of their after-hours earnings reports. Investors are focused on updated guidance for AI-related capital expenditures, which have been a major driver of recent stock gains despite mounting doubts about the long-term sustainability of that spending. AI infrastructure was already under scrutiny after reports that OpenAI missed certain performance targets yesterday.
On the corporate front, Visa rose more than 5% after delivering strong quarterly results, while Booking Holdings fell about 4% following its earnings release. AbbVie rebounded from eight-month lows after publishing its latest report.
Defensive sectors held firm even as oil prices climbed again, with no clear signs of easing supply risks from the Middle East. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its meeting later today, which is likely to be Chair Jerome Powell’s final meeting in the role.
