The US markets ended lower on Wednesday with Nasdaq settling over one percent cut. The weakness on Markets partly reflected anxiety ahead of the release of market leader Nvidia's (NVDA) fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading. Shares of Nvidia tumbled by 2.1 percent on the day, more than offsetting the 1.5 percent jump seen during Tuesday's session. Markets were also under pressure as traders looked ahead to Friday's release of the Commerce Department report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. Street currently expect the annual rate of consumer price growth to inch up to 2.6 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June, while the annual rate of core consumer price is expected to tick up to 2.7 percent in July from 2.6 percent in June.
On the sectoral front, Computer hardware stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, contributing to the steep drop by the Nasdaq. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plunged by 2.5 percent. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) led the computer hardware sector lower, with the server maker plummeting by 19.1 percent after saying it would delay the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30. Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, resulting in a 2.2 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the gold sector came amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal. Steel, oil service and airline stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.08 points or 0.39 percent to 41,091.42, Nasdaq dropped 198.79 points or 1.12 percent to 17,556.03 and S&P 500 was down by 33.62 points or 0.6 percent to 5,592.18.