NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks retreated early Wednesday following data showing a slight downgrade to fourth-quarter US economic growth.
But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare noted that the stock market remains near record highs.
The weak opening on Wednesday “is unlikely to cause any undue concern,” he said. “Rather, it is apt to be viewed as a normal course of action for a market that has been on a tear.”
Wall Street wavers ahead of key inflation data
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent at 38,794.17.
The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 5,064.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 percent to 15,947.73.
Gross domestic product in the world’s biggest economy was revised to an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the final three months of 2023, from an initial estimate of 3.3 percent released last month.
The shift reflected a downward revision to private inventory investment offset by higher consumer spending.
Stocks have been propelled higher in recent months by enthusiasm over artificial intelligence, coupled with expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2024.
In recent weeks, markets have become less hopeful about imminent Fed interest rate reductions.
Among individual companies, cryptocurrency exchange company Coinbase Global rose 4.3 percent after bitcoin climbed above $60,000, nearing an all-time high after US securities regulators’ January approval of new trading vehicles indexed to bitcoin.
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