Stock market today: Dow slides as sea of red in tech persists; inflation data eyed

Investing.com -- The Dow fell Wednesday as the slide in tech continued, paced by weakness in chip stocks as investors remained wary of making bullish bets ahead of Thursday's inflation report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, or 191 points, Nasdaq fell 1.2%, and the The S&P 500 fell 0.7%.

Qualcomm downgrade sours sentiment on chip stocks

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) led chip stocks lower, with the latter coming under pressure after Daiwa Capital downgraded its rating on chipmaker to buy from outperform, citing worries about weaker demand.

Daiwa Capital flagged several issues that were evident in the third quarter including weak consumer demand, particularly in China, and high inventory levels.

Big tech struggles ahead of inflation data

Big tech including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) struggled to cut losses, keeping tech on the backfoot as investors remain wary of bullish bets ahead of inflation data due Thursday.

The upcoming in inflation data are likely to point to another sign that deflationary pressure in the goods sector persists, driven by a fall in used car prices, Morgan Stanely said, estimating headline CPI increased by 0.19% in July and  3.3% in the 12 months through July.

Further signs that inflation is cooling will likely stoke optimism that the Federal Reserve may not resume rate hikes later this year.

Lyft, Rivian drive in quarterly results beat, but investors unimpressed

Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) fell more than 10% as margin concerns offset the ride-sharing company’s better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Still, some Wall Street gave the ride-sharing company the vote confidence, citing improved driver supply.

“Things feel more positive than negative at LYFT: pricing&driver supply are getting where they need to be, rides growth has rebounded nicely and ex-insurance profitability is proving sturdier,” RBC said in a note as it lifted its price target on the stock to $12 from $9.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) lifted its annual production guidance after reporting a narrower than expected loss in the second quarter, but its shares fell more than 9%.

Disney’s ESPN teams Up with Penn Entertainment to launch sports betting business

Disney’s ESPN struck a $2 billion deal with sports betting company Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) to launch a sports betting business ESPN Bet. PENN rose more than 9%, while Disney was down less than 1%.