Wall Street closes lower, focus on US debt ceiling vote

Stock markets in New York ended the trading day in the red on Wednesday. Investors took little risk ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a recent deal to raise the government’s debt ceiling. It is expected to take place overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. Without congressional approval, the US risks running out of money soon, which could cause major chaos in financial markets.

Investors also activated the release of the US Federal Reserve’s ‘Beige Book’, a report on economic conditions. It showed that economic activity in the US was little changed in April and early May, although inflation eased somewhat. It gives investors a sense of what the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision will look like. It is expected in mid-June.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the trading day down 0.4 percent at 32,908.27 points. The broader S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent to 4,179.83 points. The Nasdaq was down 0.6 percent at 12,935.29. The tech indicator is headed for a more than 6 percent gain in May, thanks to strong gains by technology and chip companies that benefited from optimism about artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Microsoft failed to benefit on Wednesday and fell 0.8 percent. Analysts at Piper Sandler raised their price target for the technology and software group, calling the stock an “AI superstar.”

Nvidia posted a 5.7 percent loss. The chip company has seen significant growth recently, due to the announcement of several projects in the field of AI. On Tuesday, the company was valued at more than $1 trillion.

Advance Auto Parts fell 35 percent. The auto parts retailer posted its first-quarter results, which didn’t go down well with investors. The company suffered from higher-than-expected costs and increased inflation. As a result, the North Carolina company lowered expectations for next year and its quarterly dividend.

In Europe, the euro was at $1.0688 against a close of $1.0665. U.S. crude was down 2.3 percent at $67.86 a barrel. The price of Brent oil fell 1.2 percent to $72.66 a barrel.