June 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Wednesday, with technology stocks attempting to find a floor after recent selloff, while investors awaited a crucial inflation report this week to gauge the path of monetary policy.
AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab edged higher for a second day after a selloff that wiped out $430 billion off its market value and weighed on the broader technology sector. The stock was last up 0.7%
The broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX), opens new tab climbed 0.5%, with Micron Technology (MU.O), opens new tab inching up 1% ahead of its quarterly results due after the closing bell.
Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab rose 1.2% after Rosenblatt upgraded the iPhone maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral."
"The market is trying to figure out in real time whether it needs to focus on the biggest three stocks - Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft - or is it time for the other 497 stocks to take the baton," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
"That's been the debate in markets over the course of the last week or so, and that debate continues today. But I don't think that question gets answered until we get into the second-quarter earnings season."
Delivery giant FedEx (FDX.N), opens new tab jumped nearly 13% after forecasting fiscal 2025 profit above estimates.
Appliances manufacturer Whirlpool(WHR.N), opens new tab surged 12.4% after Reuters reported German engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for the U.S. appliances manufacturer.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab, the S&P 500 information technology index (.SPLRCT), opens new tab and the Philadelphia chip index (.SOX), opens new tab all notched gains of more than 1% on Tuesday, marking a rebound for the sectors that were instrumental in Wall Street's rise to fresh record highs.
Several economic data releases are on tap this week, leading up to Friday's release of the much-anticipated personal consumption expenditures price index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.
With the Fed projecting only one interest rate cut in December, all eyes will be on whether the data shows an expected moderation in price pressures.
Market participants see a near 60% chance of a 25-basis point rate cut in September, and about two cuts by the year-end, LSEG's interest rate probabilities app showed.
By 09:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 163.58 points, or 0.41%, to 38,948.58, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab lost 5.66 points, or 0.10%, to 5,463.64 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab gained 32.60 points, or 0.19%, to 17,750.02.
Shares of major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab, Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab, and Bank of America (BAC.N), opens new tab slipped between 0.9% and 1.2% ahead of the Fed's release of results from its annual banking sector stress test.
The broader S&P 500 financial index (.SPSY), opens new tab fell 0.6%.
Rivian (RIVN.O), opens new tab soared 33% as German automaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab said it will invest up to $5 billion in the U.S. electric-vehicle maker.
Shares of Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab dropped 2.6% after the company cut its forecast for second-quarter unit revenue, citing uneven travel demand.
General Mills(GIS.N), opens new tab dipped 5.4% after the Cheerios cereal maker forecast annual profit below estimates and posted a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales, hurt by lower demand for its snack bars and pet food, as well as higher input costs.
On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by about a 1.77-to-1 ratio and on the NYSE by a 3.2-to-1 ratio.
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Reporting by Ankika Biswas, Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Maju Samuel
