Stocks fell Wednesday as recession concerns dominated outlooks as market participants weighed a cooler-than-expected inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped nearly 40 points, snapping a four-day winning streak, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost roughly 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.41% or -16.99 points to 4,091.95
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.11% or -38.29 points to 33,646.50
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.85% or -102.54 points to 11,929.34
In the spotlight Wednesday, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1% month-to-month in March, below February's gain of 0.4% and below expectations. Headline inflation rose annually at a rate of 5%, which also was below estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, known as Core CPI, the index rose 0.4% for the month and 5.6% for the year, in line with expectations.
While the key inflation report was encouraging as it showed prices are beginning to stabilize, minutes from the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting showed officials feared the U.S. economy could slip into a mild recession later this year due to the recent banking crisis.
"Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff's projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years," the minutes read.
Projections following the meeting indicated that Fed officials expect gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.4% for all of 2023.
Elsewhere, consumer credit card spending continued to moderate in March, according to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). The firm said spending rose 0.1% year-over-year, marking the weakest annual growth since February 2021.
In single-stock news, American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) shares fell after the company released updated guidance for the first quarter than came in below some analyst estimates. The airline now expects adjusted earnings per share of $0.01 to $0.05 for the first quarter. Other airline stocks came under pressure following the update, with United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) falling over 5%.
Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) unveiled its new streaming service call "Max" on Wednesday, which will be a combination of content from its HBO Max and Discovery+ offerings. The new service will launch on May 23 and offer three subscription tiers ranging from $9.99 to $19.99. The entertainment company had more than 96 million global streaming subscribers across its platforms at the end of the fourth quarter.
Looking ahead, the start of the first-quarter earnings season is right around the corner, with BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) all set to deliver results on Friday.