The S&P 500 eked out a gain on Wednesday, snapping a four-day run of losses.

The broad market index advanced 0.01% to close at 5,956.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 188.04 points, or 0.43%, to end at 43,433.12. The 30-stock average was earlier up as much as 245.34 points, or about 0.6%. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.26% and ended at 19,075.26.

Nvidia rose more than 3% ahead of its earnings report after the bell. Meanwhile, shares of Instacart parent Maplebear dropped 12.3% for their worst day on record.

Stocks moved down from their highs as uncertainty around President Donald Trump's trade policy heightened worries among investors. During his first cabinet meeting, Trump stated that tariffs against Canada and Mexico will take effect. He also declared he would soon expand his trade war to include 25% tariffs on goods from the European Union.

"Policy uncertainty … has certainly filtered its way into a lot of the soft data," Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "That's why you're seeing things like buying intentions for big-ticket items, capex intentions and spending plans really pull down."

This comes as investors closely await Nvidia's fourth-quarter earnings report.

The release arrives at a pivotal time for Nvidia. The emergence of DeepSeek raised questions about the sustainability of the once-hot artificial intelligence trade. The chip giant and other momentum plays are also showing signs of fizzling, with Nvidia down 2% in 2025.

"Nvidia is the bellwether and market-darling stock that is of vital importance to the broader markets. Its performance provides meaningful guidance for the broader market tone. The importance for the tech sector cannot be understated," said SWBC Chief Investment Officer Chris Brigati.

Stocks are coming off a weak session. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both logged their fourth consecutive losing day. The 30-stock Dow was the outlier, with a roughly 0.4% advance.

A weaker-than-expected consumer confidence reading from the Conference Board weighed on stocks Tuesday. A raft of recent reports, including disappointing retail sales numbers and a weak consumer sentiment reading, have spurred traders' worries around the economy over the past week, leading to pressure on the major averages.

For the week, the S&P 500 is down nearly 1%, while the Nasdaq is off 2.3%. The Dow is near the flatline week to date.

S&P 500 closes slightly above the flatline

The S&P 500 closed Wednesday's trading session barely in the green.

The broad market index rose just 0.01%.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.26%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, falling 188.04 points, or 0.43%.

— Hakyung Kim

Target shares under pressure heading into what could be a newsy investor day

Ahead of Target's earnings and investor day on Tuesday, Wall Street analysts have been pointing out the stock's discount relative to other broadline retailers. Shares are trading at about 12.5 times 2026 earnings estimates, compared with a group average of 35 times, according to Morgan Stanley's Simeon Gutman. Target's stock is down about 8% since the start of the year, and it has fallen 17% over the past 12 months. Average analyst price targets predict shares could recoup that loss over the next year.

JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers expects Target will earn $2.40 per share in the fourth quarter, which is at the high end of Target's forecast of $1.85 to $2.45 per share. But he also expects the company's same-store sales forecast for the fiscal year will be flat to up 2%, compared with a consensus estimate that predicts a 1.8% gain. There is also a chance that the fiscal first-quarter estimates could disappoint due to the late timing of Easter.

"Lastly, CEO succession news is a when not if item," Horvers told clients in a research note, explaining that CEO Brian Cornell committed to stay three more years in September 2022. "This suggests succession is drawing near, with an internal candidate most likely, and the potential for the news as early as next week."

— Christina Cheddar Berk

Real estate outperforms the broader market

Real estate is up 1.2% week to date, making it the best-performing sector during the period.

Health care is the following top-performing group, with gains of 1%.

Meanwhile, information technology is lagging behind the broader market, down 2.2% for the week.

— Hakyung Kim

Instacart shares on pace for worst day on record

Shares of Instacart declined more than 12% in afternoon trading following the grocery delivery platform's fourth-quarter revenue miss and softer-than-expected forecast for the first quarter.

The drop puts the stock on track for its largest single-day percentage decrease ever. The stock's next-worst day is Nov. 13, 2024, when it fell 11%.

Instacart shares are still positive for the year, gaining more than 3% and outpacing the S&P 500's gain of about 1%.

— Sean Conlon

Tesla shares could close below $300 level

Tesla shares continued their decline on Wednesday, falling an additional 2.2%. Week to date, the electric vehicle maker has tumbled more than 12%.

If the losses hold, Tesla shares are on pace to close below the $300 mark for the first time since Nov. 7, 2024.

Since President Trump took office, the stock has tumbled 30%. On Tuesday, Tesla's market cap declined below $1 trillion.

— Hakyung Kim

Consumer staples stocks struggle, giving back some February gains

Consumer staples were the worst-performing S&P 500 sector on Wednesday, according to FactSet, marking a reversal from the recent flight-to-safety trade that saw the group outperform.

The iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was down 1.5% in afternoon trading. The fund had risen in the previous six trading sessions and entered Wednesday up nearly 7% for the month.

The worst performers in the staples group were Dollar General, Campbell's and Hershey. All three of those stocks were positive for the week before Wednesday and are still positive month to date.

— Jesse Pound

Stocks making the biggest midday moves: AppLovin, Flywire and more

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

• AppLovin — The mobile software stock tumbled 10% after short sellers Culper and Fuzzy Panda both released short reports on Wednesday.
• Flywire — The global payments stock plunged more than 40% after the company reported a fourth-quarter miss on the top and bottom lines.
• Bloomin' Brands — Shares plunged 17% after the Outback Steakhouse owner posted first-quarter and full-year earnings guidance that were under FactSet's consensus estimates.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Concerns are growing over the health of financial stocks as yields fall, Wolfe says

"[O]ur concerns are building" about the health of financial stocks, notwithstanding their ability to hold up well over the past two weeks and rise more than 5% so far in 2025, said Rob Ginsberg, macro strategist at Wolfe Research, in a note to clients Wednesday.

The sector is little changed over the past month and has been hurt by falling bond yields, Wolfe and his colleague Read Harvey said. "Given the damage that's played out in the likes of Tech, Industrials, and Discretionary, we will take that as a win."

But after falling to about 4.30% from 4.50%, yields on the 10-year Treasury may return to the December low at about 4.20% "at the very least," Wolfe said.

The analysts highlighted recent weakness in financial technology stocks that have seen "ugly gap downs" and "got hit hard," including Fidelity National Information Services, down almost 18% in three months; Shift4 Payments, lower by more than 15% over the past month; and the Global X FinTech ETF, down almost 8% in February.

— Scott Schnipper

Trump says tariffs will not be stopped

President Trump said Wednesday that he would not halt his plan for tariffs that have put financial markets on edge.

"I'm not stopping the tariffs," he said in response to a question about his plans for levies on Mexico and Canada, adding that they would go into effect with "no exceptions."

Trump noted that millions have died due to fentanyl brought into the U.S. He said the slowdown in border crossing numbers has been "good," but is mainly because of American efforts.

"We've been taken advantage of as a country for a long period of time," Trump said. "We've been tariffed, but we didn't tariff."

— Alex Harring

Howard Marks says stocks are expensive but not in a bubble

Howard Marks, co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, said the stock market is expensive but it is not in a bubble.

"Things are not cheap today necessarily," Marks said on CNBC's "Money Movers" on Wednesday. "The stock market is expensive relative to history, but not crazy. So I don't think it's something you have to flee, but you have to look at it cautiously."

Marks is one of the most respected value investors, who famously foresaw the dot-com bubble. He recently pointed out a few cautionary signs he saw in the stock market, including valuations, enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks.

— Yun Li

Health insurers and hospitals drop on proposed Medicaid cuts

Health insurance and hospital stocks fell Wednesday. This came after the House of Representatives passed a government spending bill on Tuesday that called for $880 million in cuts to the Energy and Commerce Committee, which overseas Medicaid and Medicare. The budget cuts to the programs are expected to put pressure on federal and state health programs amid higher medical costs.

Medicaid-centered insurers Molina and Centene declined 6% each. Community Health is the biggest decliner among hospitals, losing 6.5%. Other hospitals down on the day include Universal Health and HCA Holdings, which pulled back 3.5% and 3.7%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim, Bertha Coombs

Trump trades losing all postelection gains

The Trump trades, which include sectors such as cryptocurrencies, industrials and small caps, are reversing their initial surge following President Trump's Election Day victory in November.

"Trump trades have seen reversals as all the new year money got deployed and then everything hit a brick wall. TSLA, crypto, and PLTR are the poster children for this turn," Brent Donnelly, president at Spectra Markets, wrote in a note Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 is down 1.6% in 2025. The crypto trade has also lost steam, with bitcoin now trading below the $90,000 level after hitting the $100,000 mark for the first time in December.

— Hakyung Kim, Jesse Pound

Consumer spending trends are contradicting concerns over sentiment, says Bank of America

Bank of America is paying closer attention to consumer spending trends as opposed to getting caught up in weak sentiment data.

"We also think the signal value from consumer surveys is limited as there has been an ongoing disconnect between sentiment and spending," BofA U.S. economist Stephen Juneau wrote in a Wednesday note. "Sentiment has been weak since the start of the inflation wave, yet consumer spending has been remarkably robust. The upshot is that economic fundamentals and the hard data show little sign of a sharp downturn in activity," Juneau added.

— Brian Evans

Anheuser-Busch InBev shares poised for best session since 2021

Anheuser-Busch InBev headed for its best day in more than three years after the beer maker's earnings surpassed Wall Street expectations.

The Bud Light and Corona parent surged 8.6% in Wednesday morning trading. If that holds through session close, it would mark the stock's best day since October 2021, when it climbed more than 9% in a session.

Wednesday's rally comes after the Belgium-based company said it earned 88 cents per share, excluding items, in the fourth quarter, beating out the estimate of 69 cents per share from analysts polled by FactSet. Anheuser-Busch InBev reported revenue at $14.84 billion, exceeding Wall Street's forecast of $14.18 billion.

Anheuser-Busch InBev shares have jumped more than 19% in 2025.

— Alex Harring

Key stocks need to 'take a stand' here, technical analyst says

Some of the biggest names in 2024's market rally are now at a critical technical juncture after the recent swoon for stocks, according to Wolfe Research.

Technical analyst Rob Ginsberg said in a note to clients Tuesday night that some stocks that were recently high momentum trades, including Google parent Alphabet and defense tech stock Palantir, are near areas of downside support.

"Time will tell, but in looking at the charts of names such as AMZN, GOOGL, VRT, PLTR and ANET, if they were going to make a stand, this is the spot," Ginsberg wrote.

One of the sharpest downturns in that group has been for Palantir, which closed $87.84 per share on Tuesday after hitting $124.62 on Feb. 18.

Ginsberg also wrote, "32% decline over the past week just to fill the recent gap. Solid support in the mid $80s, if it can't hold here, look for an oversold condition to develop in the mid $70s."

— Jesse Pound

New home sales miss in January

New home sales numbers came in below economists' estimates last month.

There were 657,000 sales of new single-family homes sold in January, according to a release from the Census Bureau. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the figure to come in at 671,000.

— Hakyung Kim

Grocery Outlet shares plunge

Grocery Outlet shares plunged 28% after the discount grocer missed expectations in its latest quarter and announced a restructuring plan that includes laying off workers and opening fewer new stores.

The supermarket company posted adjusted earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $1.10 billion. That came in below the consensus estimate of 17 cents in earnings per share on revenue of $1.09 billion, according to FactSet.

The results put Wall Street on alert. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy, saying the report suggested Grocery Outlet's challenges are "deeper," and will require "much more time" for a turnaround.

Jefferies, which has a hold rating on Grocery Outlet, lowered its price target to $13 from $14. That is about a 17% drop from Tuesday's close of $15.74.

— Sarah Min

Stocks open higher Wednesday

U.S. stocks kicked off Wednesday's trading session in the green.

The S&P 500 added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average flickered near the flatline.

— Hakyung Kim

See the stocks making the biggest premarket moves

These are some of the names making notable moves before the bell on Wednesday:

• General Motors — Shares popped 4% after announcing an increase of its quarterly dividend by 25% and a $6 billion share repurchase plan.
• Alibaba — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese company added 4% after Alibaba said its video generation model using artificial intelligence would be free to use.
• Instacart — The grocery delivery platform plunged 10% after revenue came in under Wall Street's consensus forecast.

Click here for the full list.

— Alex Harring

Deutsche Bank upgrades shares of Coupang

Shares of South Korean e-commerce company Coupang could be due for some more growth ahead, according to Deutsche Bank.

The stock rose more than 5% in the premarket on Wednesday after analyst Peter Milliken upgraded it to buy from hold and increased its price target. The updated target now implies about 18% upside from Tuesday's close.

"The Korean e-commerce market had a tough year, with most traditional rivals contracting, yet much of the reason has been Coupang's superior execution, which drove 4Q net underlying revenues up 21% in local currency terms," the firm wrote in a Wednesday note. "The company is confident for more of the same in 2025, guiding to 20% revenue growth in constant currency terms."

This year, Coupang has already outperformed the broader market, advancing around 10% year to date. That is about eight times the S&P 500's year-to-date gains of more than 1%.

— Sean Conlon

GM pops on dividend increase, $6 billion buyback

General Motors shares jumped nearly 5% after the automaker increased its quarterly dividend and initiated a $6 billion buyback.

The company increased its dividend by 25% to 15 cents per share, matching that of Ford Motor. On top of that, it launched a buyback program during which it is expected to repurchase $2 billion in stock during the second quarter.

— Fred Imbert

Lowe's shares rise after earnings beat

Lowe's shares were up more than 2% in the premarket after the home improvement retailer reported fourth-quarter figures that beat expectations.

The company earned $1.93 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $18.55 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of $1.84 per share on revenue of $18.3 billion.

— Fred Imbert

Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumps as city pledges to develop itself into an artificial intelligence hub

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday, as two key Wall Street benchmarks fell overnight following a drop in U.S. consumer confidence that was weaker than economists' estimates.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 3.25% in its last hour of trade. Gains were led by the consumer and technology sectors as the city pledged in its budget announcement today to develop itself into an artificial intelligence hub, allocating 1 billion Hong Kong dollars toward AI research and development.

The Hang Seng Tech index surged 4.46% in its last hour, on the back of a sharp rise in JD.com (8.32%), Xpeng (8.35%), Alibaba (5.13%) and Meituan (9.71%).

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 and Topix were in negative territory for the second consecutive day. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.25% to close at 38,142.37, while the broader Topix index fell 0.30% to end the day at 2,716.40.

South Korea's Kospi closed 0.41% higher at 2,641.09 while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.26% to close at 771.41.

Mainland China's CSI 300 index ended the day 0.87% higher at 3,959.94.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.14% to end the day at 8,240.70. This is its second consecutive day in negative territory.

— Amala Balakrishner

'Rally in Treasuries will lose steam,' Capital Economics says

The Federal Reserve's inability to cut interest rates in 2025 as a result of President Donald Trump's tariff policies means the past week's rally in U.S. Treasuries that drove 10-year note yields below 4.30% will eventually reverse, according to Joe Maher, assistant economist at London-based Capital Economics.

"Investor sentiment has taken a turn for the worse over recent days," and "risk appetite" has soured, Maher wrote Tuesday. Ten-year Treasury yields are down 50 basis points, or half a percentage point, since their recent peak in mid-January, as recent economic surveys "have started to surprise to the downside."

The problem for Treasury prices, Capital Economics says, is "that inflationary pressures will strengthen as Trump brings in further tariffs in the second quarter of this year," which will outweigh the effect of slower economic growth, "and keep the Fed on hold for the remainder of the year. In turn, we think a more hawkish FOMC than currently discounted will push the 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.75% by end-2025."

— Scott Schnipper

Super Micro shares surge after company files long-awaited financials

Super Micro Computer soared in extended trading after the embattled server maker submitted its delayed financial statements ahead of a key deadline from Nasdaq.

The stock leapt 22% in after-hours trading.

Super Micro submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission updated and audited statements for its fiscal 2024, as well as for the first two quarters of fiscal 2025.

Nasdaq had given Super Micro until Feb. 25 to turn in the reports or face delisting.  

Shares have fallen 47% over the past 12 months.

Read more about Super Micro's updated financial filings here from CNBC's Kif Leswing.

— Darla Mercado

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:

• Jack in the Box — The fast-food chain surged more than 10%. The company reported fiscal first-quarter operating earnings of $1.92 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet forecast $1.69 per share.
• Workday — Shares of the manufacturer of human resources software jumped 7%. Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $1.92 per share on revenue of $2.21 billion. That beat analysts' projections for $1.78 per share in earnings and $2.18 billion in revenue.
• Instacart — Shares of the grocery delivery service tumbled 8%. Fourth-quarter revenue came in at $883 million, falling short of analysts' call for $891 million, per LSEG. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the current quarter will range between $220 million and $230 million, while analysts polled by FactSet forecast $237.1 million.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures open higher

Stock futures were higher on Tuesday as investors look toward a key earnings report from Nvidia.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 gained 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 81 points, or 0.1%.

— Brian Evans