NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – The US stock markets continued their downward trend from the previous day in the middle of the week. Heavily weighted technology stocks topped the list of losers. Some bank stocks were also in weak shape after the announcement of quarterly figures. US producer prices, which rose more than expected in November, had a slight negative impact on the stock markets. Retail sales rose slightly more than forecast in November.
The leading index Dow Jones Industrial closed 0.09 percent lower at 49,149.63 points, after having already fallen by 0.8 percent the day before. On the Nasdaq technology exchange, the NASDAQ 100 lost 1.07 percent to 25,465.94 points on Wednesday.
The market-wide S&P 500 fell by 0.53 percent to 6,926.60 points, continuing its decline from the recent record high. The decline is primarily attributed to significant losses from the “Magnificent 7”, i.e. the seven most important US technology stocks. The first weeks of 2026 were characterized by a constant rotation away from large technology stocks and towards smaller stocks, it was said from the trade.
The major US banks Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo (Wells FargoCo) did not delight investors with their annual figures. At Citigroup, the separation from the Russian business at the end of 2025 eroded profits, and Wells Fargo disappointed in terms of net interest income and profits. The shares of Citigroup and Wells Fargo ultimately fell by 3.3 and 4.5 percent respectively. Despite surprisingly good figures, Bank of America was unable to escape the downward pull on the stock market and fell by 3.8 percent.
Bucking the general market trend, the stocks of the conglomerate Honeywell rose by 1.3 percent. The quantum computer company Quantinuum, which is majority owned by Honeywell, is planning to go public soon. In September, Honeywell announced it had raised new capital for Quantinuum, giving the company a post-money valuation of nearly $11 billion.
Biogen shares fell by 5.0 percent. The biotech company had announced pre-tax earnings for the fourth quarter, which included costs for acquired ongoing research and development projects as well as advance payments and milestone payments of approximately $222 million.
The shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian (Rivian Automotive) fell by 7.2 percent. The major bank UBS downgraded the shares from “Neutral” to “Sell” and justified this with a no longer attractive ratio of investment opportunities to risks./edh/nas