Stock Market Today: Live Updates

The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday, with Nvidia stocks falling ahead of its highly anticipated earnings report. Investors also assessed the disappointing results of Target.

THE S&P500 decreased by 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4%. THE Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points, or 0.1%.

“Like most investors, we will be closely watching NVIDIA’s earnings report today for clues about where AI spending is going,” Chris Senyek of Wolfe Research wrote in a Wednesday note. “We view any negative news or disappointing spending trends as one of the key risks that could delay, or even reverse, a year-end debacle.”

All eyes are on Nvidia’s darling AI. The results could matter more than some key economic reports, given the chipmaker’s $3.6 trillion market capitalization, and set the tone for the market for the rest of the week. Investors will be looking for details on demand for its Blackwell AI chips, which CEO Jensen Huang last month called “crazy.”

Investors see the report as a potential catalyst to reaccelerate the market for the rest of the year, after the big post-election rally that sent major benchmarks to new highs petered out. Stocks struggled last week when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank was in no rush to cut rates. Growing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine also spooked markets on Tuesday.

Furthermore, the retailer Target fell 20% after posting its biggest revenue shortfall in two years and reduced its full-year forecast due to slowing discretionary demand and cost pressures.

The disappointment put pressure on other key retail stocks, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF last down 1.3%. Costco was down slightly, while discount retailers Dollar tree, Dollar General And Five below decreased by more than 4% each. Home Depot fell 1%.

Comcast shares rose slightly as the media company announced plans to spin off its cable networks, including MSNBC and CNBC. The separation is expected to take about a year. Comcast first hinted at a potential split during its October earnings conference call.

— Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.