Dow Jones falls over 200 pts; Nasdaq slides 2%

US stocks fell at the close of Wednesday’s session, weighed down by the technology sector.

Investors are assessing statements from Federal Reserve officials on the outlook for monetary policy and are awaiting inflation data.

At the close of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.47%, or 228 points, to 47,885.

The broader S&P 500 fell 1.16%, or 78 points, to 6,721, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.81%, or 418 points, to 22,693.

Oracle shares slid 5.4% to $178.45, after reports said talks with Blue Owl Capital to finance a $10 billion data center in Michigan had stalled, though the cloud computing company later denied the accuracy of the report.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat at 579.79 points, amid mixed performance across most sectors and major exchanges.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.5% to 23,960 points, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.25% to 8,086 points, while the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.92% to 9,774 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.25% to 49,512 points, while the broader Topix index was flat, closing at 3,369 points.

In the oil market, Brent crude futures for February 2026 delivery rose 1.29%, or 76 cents, to $59.68 a barrel.

Nymex crude futures for January 2026 delivery gained 1.21%, or 67 cents, to $55.94 a barrel.

As for gold, futures for February delivery rose 1%, or $41.6, to $4,373.9 an ounce.