The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged lower on Wednesday (March 13) as investors took profits in chipmaker stocks, while they braced for producer price data and further clues on the inflation trend ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.83 points, or 0.1%, to 39,043.32. The S&P 500 lost 9.96 points, or 0.19%, at 5,165.31 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 87.87 points, or 0.54%, to 16,177.77. An index of semiconductors eased 2.
5% after recent strong gains, but was up 17% for the year to date. Shares of Nvidia, which have led the recent rally fueled by optimism about artificial intelligence, fell 1.1%. Investors are looking ahead to Nvidia’s global GTC developer conference on AI from March 18-21 and any AI-related announcements. Intel shares fell 4.4%. Bloomberg reported that the Pentagon had pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a chip grant to the company. February US producer price data due on Thursday could offer further insight into the inflation pictur