This Week on Wall Street
Your weekly cheat sheet — what's moving markets, what's coming up, and what it means for your portfolio. No jargon, just clarity.
This Week in Markets
Wall Street suffered its sharpest pullback in weeks on Wednesday after a hotter-than-expected September CPI report reignited inflation fears, with the Nasdaq Composite tumbling 1.88% to 26,692.87 and the S&P 500 falling 1.11% to 7,718.94, while the Dow Jones held up better, slipping just 0.09% to 51,621.48 as defensive names absorbed the selling. Information Technology dropped 3.00% on renewed worries over AI infrastructure debt, dragging Communication Services and Industrials lower, while Healthcare surged 2.44% and Consumer Staples added 2.21% as investors rotated into safety; Financials also slid after Bank of America shares fell on a $1.2 billion regulatory fine layered on top of the week's bank earnings. Treasury yields spiked as high as 5.33% on the inflation print before reversing to 5.19% by the close, while the VIX jumped 10% to 16.87 and gold eased to $4,111.60 as the dollar firmed; WTI crude held near $95 on lingering geopolitical supply risk. The Fear & Greed Index slid to a Fear reading of 32, down sharply from Tuesday's Neutral 44, as sticky inflation revived doubts about a near-term Fed rate cut. Attention now turns to this morning's September retail sales and PPI data, with Charles Schwab also reporting earnings before the bell and Netflix's Q3 results due after Friday's close.