S&P 500 Stumbles as Rate Cut Doubts Cloud Thanksgiving Holiday Markets

The S&P 500 stumbled Wednesday, shedding 0.5%, as inflation concerns dampened hopes for rate cuts. The Dow lost 102 points, and the NASDAQ fell 0.9%, with subdued trading expected ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Inflation Concerns Weigh on Pre-Thanksgiving Markets

Investing.com reports that US stocks fell slightly on Wednesday as cautious trading in the lead-up to Thanksgiving and rising inflation data weighed on the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index, and the NASDAQ Composite all saw declines of 0.25% and 0.9%, respectively, at 1:03 p.m. ET (18:03 GMT).

Before Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday's early closing, trading volumes are expected to be low on Wednesday.

Despite expectations for a 2.3% annual increase in the PCE price index for October, the preferred inflation indicator of the Federal Reserve, the core PCE price index, increased 2.8% in October, well over the 2% annual objective.

S&P 500 Slips Amid Rate Cut Doubts

The markets have started to doubt the likelihood of a 25 basis point cut in December, and recent indications of persistent US inflation have cast doubt on the extent to which the Fed will reduce interest rates further.

The publication of robust economic data earlier Wednesday, indicating that the US economy was in a healthy enough state to handle interest rates at their current levels, only served to heighten these misgivings.

U.S. economic growth in the third quarter was an unadjusted 2.8% annualized rate, significantly higher than what Federal Reserve officials consider the non-inflationary growth rate of approximately 1.8%. First-time unemployment claims for the week fell to 213,000 from a revised lower 215,000 the week before. Claims have been steadily retreating from the near 1-1/2-year high seen in early October.

Tech Giants Face Thanksgiving Week Losses

On the business front, HP fell 12% after issuing disappointing guidance for 2025, and Dell Technologies fell more than 10% after providing a disappointing revenue outlook for the current quarter, despite the company's bullish comments about AI sales growth.

As a result of decreased client spending on its human resource management software, cloud-based business applications provider Workday reported poor subscription revenue guidance, causing a 5% decline in the stock price.

Morgan Stanley analysts stated on Wednesday that, due to improving market circumstances, Workday's values are still too favorable to ignore, even with the outlook drop.