After a blistering summer rally, Wall Street’s momentum hit a speed bump mid-week. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell about 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% smdailyjournal.com. It was the second straight down day after all three indices had notched record highs on Monday. By Thursday, stocks continued to drift in search of direction – trading was choppier and largely flat, as investors digested the week’s events and awaited fresh catalysts. Profit-taking was a major theme: with indexes still near all-time highs, many traders chose to lock in gains, especially in the recent high-flyers. “Equities have trended lower on anxiety over whether or not the Fed cuts rates at each meeting for the balance of this year,” explained Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management reuters.com. In other words, the market was taking a breather to gauge if the Federal Reserve will indeed keep delivering the rate relief that fueled the rally.
