Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on January 14, 2026 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stocks fell for a second session on Wednesday, retreating further from record levels as traders digested fresh gains and monitored geopolitical developments.
of S&P500 It fell 0.53% to close at 6,926.60. of Dow Jones Industrial Average It lost 42.36 points (0.09%) and finished at 49,149.63. of Nasdaq Composite It fell 1% to settle at 23,471.75. All three indexes fell for the second consecutive day.
Technology has brought the entire market to a standstill. Chip stocks in particular suffered losses. broadcom fell 4%, Nvidia and micron technology Each fell more than 1%. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Chinese customs authorities had told customs officials that Nvidia’s H200 chips were not allowed into the country, citing people briefed on the matter.
wells fargo was one of the laggards, falling more than 4% after fourth-quarter sales fell short of expectations. bank of america and citygroup Despite the results beating consensus expectations, traders did not see the stock as strong enough to continue to support a market trading near record highs, leading to a decline.
The week’s losses will increase after President Donald Trump called for credit card interest rate reform on Friday. Citigroup is down more than 7% for the week and Bank of America is down about 6%. Wells Fargo was down about 7% by Wednesday’s close.
Stocks fell despite strong producer price index and November retail sales statistics.
“If you translate that PPI number into core PCE, I think it’s a little bit harsh,” said Tom Graff, chief investment officer at Facet. “If that’s true, that’s a pretty big problem for the Fed. This exacerbates concerns about the Fed’s independence.”
President Trump’s attacks on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell continued Tuesday as concerns about the central bank’s independence grow as the Justice Department conducts a criminal investigation into Fed leadership. Afterwards, central bankers around the world came out in defense of Mr. Powell after the investigation began.
“Let’s say in the second half of this year, we have a new Fed chairman, and maybe the Fed should raise rates, or maybe they shouldn’t cut rates. The economy has flattened out to some degree and inflation is picking up again, so we’ll see.” “Traders will be worried about that.”
geopolitical risk
Geopolitical uncertainty also weighed on Wednesday. Oil prices rose for much of the trading day on fears of supply disruptions due to civil unrest in OPEC member Iran and rising tensions between the country and the United States, but prices later fell after President Donald Trump suggested he might not attack Iran.
“I’m hearing that the killings in Iran are stopping. It’s stopping. It’s stopping. There are no plans for executions,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
President Trump on Tuesday canceled all meetings with Iranian officials and told protesters that “help is on the way.” Oil prices rose more than 2% on the day and were last down more than 1% on Wednesday.
There will also be tense talks between the Trump administration and Greenlandic and Danish officials on Wednesday as President Trump pushes for U.S. control of Greenland. Going into the meeting, the president maintained his position that anything other than Greenland becoming part of the United States was “unacceptable.”
“The United States needs Greenland for national security purposes. It’s essential to the Golden Dome we’re building. NATO should lead the way in getting us Greenland,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
