Stocks rose on Wednesday after a three-day slide for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 as investors awaited remarks on inflation from the Federal Reserve later this week. The Dow rose over 50 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added about 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.29% or +12.04 points to 4,140.77
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.18% or +59.64 points to 32,969.23
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.41% or +50.23 points to 12,431.53
Investors have been on edge this week over the central bank's annual Jackson Hole symposium scheduled for later this week, where officials are likely to reaffirm their commitment to fight inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is also set to give remarks on Friday, which could also provide more clues on the central bank's next moves heading towards its next monetary policy meeting in September.
In the news on Wednesday, Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) shares rallied over 20% after the company announced a partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to sell its fitness equipment and apparel on the e-commerce website.
"Post-Covid, the retail environment--online and in stores--is continuing to evolve, and that's something that we're trying to understand to make sure the Peloton of the future is calibrated appropriately for that," said Kevin Cornils, chief commercial officer at Peloton, to CNBC. "We want to make it as easy as possible to get a Peloton."
On the economic side, pending home sales fell 1% month-to-month in July, according to the National Association of Realtors. Compared to a year ago, sales were down 19.9%.
"We may be at or close to the bottom in contract signings," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. "This month's very modest decline reflects the recent retreat in mortgage rates. Inventories are growing for homes in the upper price ranges, but limited supply at lower price points is hindering transaction activity."
Elsewhere, Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) shares fell on Wednesday after the department store cut its guidance for full-year sales to a range of 5% to 7% on slowing demand and excess inventory. The move comes after the company raised its outlook last quarter.
Looking beyond Jackson Hole, investors are awaiting key economic reports including jobless claims on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures price index on Friday. The earnings season is also winding down, but reports from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) are due out after market close on Wednesday.