The major averages ended Monday near flat after posting a winning week. Traders awaited key retail earnings and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s annual speech at the central bank’s Jackson Hole summit.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 34.30 points, or 0.08%, to close at 44,911.82. The S&P 500 closed down 0.01% and ended at 6,449.15, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.03% to settle at 21,629.77.
Shares of Meta Platforms and Microsoft dropped about 2.3% and 0.6%, weighing on the broader market.
Investors this week will parse through financial results from big-box retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart and Target, for clues about the health of the U.S. consumer. Concerns about elevated valuations, tariffs and moderating job growth remain top-of-mind for market participants heading into the back half of the year.
“Retailer earnings reports this week are likely to reflect tariff concerns, inflation uptick and an anticipated economic slowdown,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute senior global market strategist Scott Wren said. He added that the equity rally seen in recent weeks is “likely to stall” as a result.
The Fed will also continue to be in focus this week as central bank members travel to Jackson Hole, Wyo., for the annual economic policy symposium. Investors will be monitoring the event for clues about the future path of rates. Fed funds futures are pricing in a roughly 83% likelihood that the central bank cuts rates at its next policy meeting in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
The three major averages are coming off of their second straight positive week, which also marked the fourth week of gains out of the last five for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Small-cap stocks outperformed last week as investors bet on forthcoming rate cuts.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/17/stock-market-today-live-updates.html