The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9 percent—marking the index's worst month since March. The Russell 2000 declined 0.7 percent. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2 percent on the day but finished the month 3.2 percent higher, powered by semiconductor strength.
Nvidia (NVDA), Micron Technology (MU), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) led gains. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) each advanced about 0.5 percent, while the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) added approximately 0.9 percent. Intel (INTC), Arm Holdings (ARM), and Marvell Technologies (MRVL) also contributed to the sector's monthly rise.
The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.4 percent annually in August, down from 3.7 percent in July (later revised to 3.4 percent). Core PCE, excluding food and energy, slowed to 3 percent from 3.3 percent—below expectations.
Traders responded by cutting bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in October. CME FedWatch data showed the probability of an October hike fell to 37 percent from 51 percent. "The cooler reading bolsters the case for not hiking in October," David Russell at TradeStation said. Fixed-income markets stayed muted, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising 1 basis point to 5.27 percent and the 30-year yield climbing 3 basis points to 5.62 percent—both near multi-decade highs.
MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the company is open to acquiring media and holding company People Inc. following Barry Diller's firm's abandoned attempt to acquire MGM Resorts.
SpaceX's AI division is reportedly reviewing its sales strategy for the Grok chatbot and the X social network. The Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry into AI developers, including OpenAI and Anthropic, to evaluate consumer risks and product safety standards.
Counterpoint Research projects Apple Inc. (AAPL) will sell approximately six million units of the iPhone Duo this year. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) is reportedly assessing a potential investment in Texas to expand U.S. chip production capacity.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) declined 0.1 percent, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) slipped 0.8 percent, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.4 percent.
