Wall Street drifts lower as US stocks slow their roll

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower on Wednesday, cooling down a day after leaping within a few good days’ worth of gains from their all-time high.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, but it’s still within 4.2% of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20% below the mark last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 244 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5%.

Trading was relatively quiet in the countdown to Wednesday’s main event for financial markets, the latest quarterly earnings release for Nvidia. That came after trading ended for the day. Before that, the AI darling’s stock slipped 0.5%.

Expectations were high for the bellwether of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. So are worries that its stock price may have run too high, even after it has largely stalled this year.

Like Nvidia, Macy’s stock also swung up and down through much of the day, even though it reported milder drops in revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The retailer maintained its forecast for revenue this year, but it cut its profit forecast in part because of tariffs and some moderation of spending by consumers. Its stock ended the day down 0.3%.

Several other retailers likewise delivered better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Abercrombie & Fitch soared 14.7% after its profit and revenue topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz credited broad-based growth across its business around the world, and strength for its Hollister brand offset weakness for its Abercrombie brand.

Dick’s Sporting Goods added 1.7% after topping analysts’ expectations for the latest quarter, and it stood by its financial forecasts it earlier gave for the full year.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Okta, which fell 16.2% even though the identity and access management company reported better results for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. Analysts called it a solid performance, but investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day up nearly 60% for the year so far.

Video-game retailer GameStop fell 10.9% after saying it had bought 4,710 bitcoin, which is worth more than $500 million at its current price. The company said in late March that it could begin buying bitcoin to store some of the cash in its treasury.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 32.99 points to 5,888.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 244.95 to 42,098.70, and the Nasdaq composite fell 98.23 to 19,100.94.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.47% from 4.43% late Tuesday.

The bond market showed relatively little reaction after the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its latest meeting earlier this month, when it left its benchmark lending rate alone for the third straight time. The central bank has been holding off on cuts to interest rates, which would give the economy a boost, amid worries about inflation staying higher than hoped because of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Sharp swings in Treasury yields last week rattled markets worldwide, as they rose in part on worries about the U.S. government’s rapidly rising debt levels. Such swings have also hit Japan, where an auction of 40-year Japanese government bonds on Wednesday drew less interest from potential buyers than it’s seen since July.

After years of pumping money into the economy by buying loads of Japanese government bonds, Japan’s central bank has been gradually cutting back, undermining demand at a time when other institutional investors also have been buying fewer Japanese government bonds. Fewer buyers for bonds pushes up their yields.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly lower across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea was an exception, where the Kospi jumped 1.3% thanks in part to gains for Samsung Electronics and other tech companies.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Michael Pistillo, left, and trader Michael Capolino work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won are seen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screens show the foreign exchange rates are seen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The screens show the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) are seen at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)