Today At A Glance:

Stocks edged off record highs as traders braced for the Fed’s decision on Wednesday; retail sales beat, but caution dominated into the close. The S&P 500 −0.1%, Dow −0.3%, and Nasdaq −0.1%, giving back a sliver of Monday’s gains. Rate-cut odds remained high despite the stronger spending data, with attention shifting to Powell’s remarks and the new dot plot. Sector tone was mixed: financials lagged while energy firmed alongside oil; utilities and real estate underperformed. Standout movers included Webtoon Entertainment (Disney partnership pop) and Dave & Buster’s (earnings miss selloff).

Today’s Index Performance

• Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) — The Dow opened today at 45,919.54 and closed today at 45,761.49, with the percentage change of −0.27%.
• S&P 500 (^GSPC) — The S&P 500 opened today at 6,624.13 and closed today at 6,606.28, with the percentage change of −0.14%.
• Nasdaq Composite — The Nasdaq opened today at 22,397.50 and closed today at 22,333.15, with the percentage change of −0.07%.

Gainers Of Note

• Webtoon Entertainment (NASDAQ: WBTN) – Digital comics platform; surged ~28–40% after Disney agreed to invest and co-develop a new subscription comics service leveraging Marvel and Star Wars IP.
• Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) – Steel producer; rose ~6–7% as the company guided for stronger Q3 earnings and sentiment improved across steel equities.
• Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) – Enterprise software & cloud; climbed ~4–5% on renewed TikTok-deal speculation layered onto last week’s AI-cloud momentum.

Losers Of Note

• Dave & Buster’s (NASDAQ: PLAY) – Eat-and-play chain; tumbled ~16–17% after a sharp earnings miss (EPS $0.40 vs. ~$0.92 est.) and soft comps.
• Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) – Media; fell ~8% after a TD Cowen downgrade citing deal uncertainty around rumored takeover chatter.
• New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) – Publisher; slipped ~1–2% after President Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the paper.

Active Traders Of Note

• Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) – Heavy turnover as traders chased TikTok headlines and AI-cloud follow-through.
• Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) – Actively traded as consumer discretionary leadership (with TSLA and AMZN) helped offset broader caution.
• Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Elevated volume alongside retail-sales strength and discretionary outperformance.

Looking Forward:

Markets now pivot to the Fed decision and dot plot; a 25 bps cut is widely expected, but guidance on the path into 2026 will steer yields and equity leadership. If Powell leans dovish, growth and rate-sensitives could re-test highs; a cautious tone may favor energy and defensives short-term. Single-name dispersion should stay elevated as M&A chatter, downgrades, and partnership news (like Disney-Webtoon) continue to drive outsized moves.

Note: The stock performance summaries are based on general trends observed over the past ten trading days and are not indicative of future results.

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