By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- The Dow closed lower Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve’s minutes from its June meeting showed further appetite to resume hikes, though big tech was largely higher as Meta surged to a 52-week high ahead of the launch of its rival Twitter app.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38%, or 129 points, the Nasdaq fell 0.2%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.2%.
Fed Minutes Signal More Fed Hikes Ahead; China Economic Jitters
The Fed minutes, released Wednesday, from the central bank’s June meeting showed “almost all” members supported resuming rate hikes at a future meeting as inflation remains “unacceptably high.”
In the sign of the hawkish lean among Fed members, the minutes also showed that some members were in favor of raising rates rather than pausing at the June meeting flagging a “very tight” labor market, which threatens to push wages and inflation higher.
Still the coming bevy of data expected in this week and next will likely “determine whether they hike in July,” Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note.
Nearly 90% of traders expect the Fed to resume rate hike in July, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Expectations for further hikes come just as investor worries about global slowdown were exacerbated by weaker than expected services data from China.
Meta, Google Lead Big Tech Higher, but Apple Falters
Big tech helped the broader market cut early-day losses as Meta surged more than 3% to 52-week highs ahead of its launch of rival Twitter app Threads expected on Thursday.
The launch of the app comes just days after Twitter said it would temporarily restrict how many posts users can read on its platform.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 0.6% though its market cap remains above $3 trillion, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) inched higher, with the latter touted by Wedbush to join the $3 trillion club by early 2024 amid an AI-led boom.
“[W]ith AI the next step we believe on a sum-of-the-parts valuation that MSFT should join Apple in the exclusive $3 trillion club by early 2024,” Wedbush said in a Wednesday note.
General Motors Leads Shine in Autos as Sales Accelerate
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) jumped more than 1% after reporting second-quarter new vehicle sales increased by nearly 19% year over year and 15% during the quarter, led by a jump in demand for its EVs.
Electric truck maker Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:NKLA) reported Wednesday that sales of its trucks doubled to 66 in the second quarter, with wholesale rising to 45 from 31, sending its shares more than 4% higher.
Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) were also higher after reporting better-than-expected delivery numbers for Q2.
Moderna Makes MRNA Play in China
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), meanwhile, said Wednesday it had struck a deal to make messenger RNA medicines in China. Drugs developed in the country would “not be exported,” the biotech firm said.