Nasdaq slides, Dow stalls ahead of Fed decision, Big Tech earnings bonanza

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Tech-led stocks were lower on Wednesday morning as the broader mood stayed muted ahead of the first Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell more 0.7%, after a bounce-back rally on Tuesday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat.

The looming Fed policy verdict is providing reason for markets to tread carefully, even though the central bank is expected to stand pat on interest rates.

Investors will listen for answers to two key questions at Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference: How much further will the Fed cut rates and has the central bank changed its stance in light of President Trump’s early tariff moves?

Meanwhile, a surprise rise in bookings for ASML (ASML), a key toolmaker in the AI chip chain, gave another boost to techs starting to recover from a bruising start to the week. Shares of ASML popped 5% in early trading, with peers like Applied Materials (AMAT) also making gains. Nvidia (NVDA), however, didn’t catch a boost, with shares down nearly 5%, as its Tuesday comeback faltered.

Markets are now taking a cooler look at Chinese startup DeepSeek’s challenge to assumptions about AI spending and costs. Shares of Alibaba (BABA) moved up more than 4% after the Chinese tech giant released a new AI model that it said is better than DeepSeek’s rival to ChatGPT.

The saga deepened with claims by Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI that DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train its competitor.

The spotlight is now on the guidance in Meta (META) and Microsoft’s quarterly results, due after the bell, for reassurance that Big Tech’s heavy AI spending will pay off in growth. Tesla (TSLA) rounds out Wednesday’s megacap earnings, with Wall Street watching for a new catalyst to jump-start the stock.

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