US stocks wobbled in midday trading Wednesday as a retail-heavy week continued with a warning from Target (TGT) and Wall Street awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was down 0.7%. The indexes were looking to rebound from a day that saw each lose more than 1%.
Target took center stage Wednesday morning as the retailer slashed its full-year profit outlook and issued a warning about general economic malaise. The company cited rising interest rates and uncertainty from the restart of student loan repayments as factors that may continue to affect its bottom line. However, the stock jumped more than 3% at the open as it revealed a profit jump.
In the afternoon, the Fed will be back in focus, as the minutes from last month’s policy meeting are set for release at 2 p.m. ET. The central bank raised interest rates to their highest point since 2001 at that meeting. Investors will look for any clues to what the Fed might do at its meeting next month. At this point, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, over 90% of traders expect the bank to hold steady.
