FX.co ★ Nasdaq, S&P 500 Give Back Ground But Dow Closes Higher For Third Straight Session

After a significant bounce-back in Tuesday's session, stocks exhibited a lacklustre performance on Wednesday. The day saw major averages fluctuating before closing mixed.

Although the Dow rose marginally by 37.83 points or 0.1% to 39,043.32, marking a third day of gain, the S&P 500 fell by 9.96 points or 0.2% to 5,165.31, and the Nasdaq dropped by 87.87 points or 0.5% to 16,177.77.

The Nasdaq's dip can partially be attributed to the tech sector's weakness, exemplified by a 1.1% drop in Nvidia (NVDA), a major player in the AI industry. Trading activities were comparatively low due to the lack of significant US economic data, which led some traders to hold their positions in anticipation of upcoming key reports.

The US Labor Department is due to release its producer price inflation report for February on Thursday. The report might provide further insights into interest rate prospects. Producer prices are anticipated to increase by 0.3% in February, consistent with January's rise. Meanwhile, the annual producer price growth rate is predicted to speed up to 1.1% from 0.9%.

On Thursday, data on weekly jobless claims and retail sales will also be disclosed. Retail sales, which sank in January, are expected to recover in February.

Market activity on Friday might hinge on reactions to the release of import and export prices, industrial production, and consumer sentiment reports. Particularly, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment report for March may be eyed since it includes inflation expectations.

While most major sectors exhibited minimal movements contributing to the broader markets' unimpressive performance, energy stocks gained considerable momentum. This increase was fueled by a striking surge in crude oil prices. With crude oil for April delivery jumping $2.16 to $79.72 a barrel, the NYSE Arca Oil Index leapt by 2.3% and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ascended by 1.9%.

Rising gold prices also boosted gold stocks, causing the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index to increase by 2.2%. Conversely, semiconductor stocks declined significantly, pulling the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.5%.

Internationally, Wednesday saw mixed performances in Asia-Pacific stock markets. While China's Shanghai Composite Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, South Korea's Kospi grew by 0.4%.

European stocks mostly improved, with France's CAC 40 Index increasing by 0.6% and the UK's FTSE 100 Index rising by 0.3%. However, Germany's DAX Index closed just below the unchanged mark.

In the bond market, treasuries continued the pullback seen in the previous two sessions, causing the benchmark ten-year note yield (which moves inversely to its price) to rise 3.7 basis points to 4.192%.

Looking forward, while investors will likely focus on Thursday's producer price inflation data, reactions to jobless claims and retail sales figures may also influence trade.