Dow Jones Edges Lower as Markets Hover Near Record Highs Ahead of Powell Speech

Markets pull back modestly as retail earnings loom and Powell prepares a highly anticipated speech.

Dow Jones Edges Lower as Markets Hover Near Record Highs Ahead of Powell Speech

Stocks drifted lower in afternoon trading on Monday as investors awaited a wave of retail earnings and a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each fell about 0.1%, snapping a two week run of gains that had kept the indexes near record highs. Traders are weighing the path for potential rate moves against stubborn inflation data and tariff concerns.

The week ahead features results from Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, Target and TJX, with policy signals from Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium in focus. Tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Broadcom mostly slipped, while Tesla rose about 1% and Nvidia edged higher. Novo Nordisk surged after the FDA approved Wegovy for a liver disease. Bitcoin traded around 116,000 amid mixed momentum for rate expectations, the dollar ticked higher, and 10 year yields rose to about 4.34%. Oil rose to roughly 63.40 a barrel and gold slipped slightly.

The market is dancing between optimism about earnings and the risk of policy shifts. Powell’s speech could set the tone for how quickly the Fed moves if inflation data stay stubborn, making this a data dependent week for investors. The rally over the past two weeks shows a surprising resilience, but the leadership from mega cap tech is cooling as investors rotate into more cyclical names and defensive plays. The mix of strong corporate results, policy expectations and macro signals creates a delicate balance for risk appetite.

Highlights

The coming days will show how much room the market has to run on policy signals