NEW YORK, March 4 — Wall Street’s main indexes dipped today after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq’s record-closing highs in the prior session, as investors paused at the start of a week packed with key jobs data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony.

The Nasdaq kicked off March by hitting an intraday all-time high on Friday, also closing at its highest level for the second day, as the artificial intelligence-driven tech rally continues to steal the spotlight on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 has also been on a record-breaking rally, with BofA Global Research lifting its year-end target for the benchmark index to 5,400, from 5,000, representing a 5 per cent upside from current levels.

“Some type of negative AI development would be your No. 1 risk, and also if inflation remains sticky along with geopolitical political issues,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

All eyes will be on monthly non-farm payrolls, JOLTS job openings and the ADP National Employment report, as well as the Fed’s “Beige Book” scheduled throughout the week for insights into the economy’s health.

The data comes at a time when investors have already pared expectations for how quickly and deeply the Fed will cut rates, as a stronger-than-expected economy risks reigniting inflation if policy eases too soon.

Powell is due to testify before lawmakers on Wednesday and Thursday, with analysts assuming the Fed chief to stay in wait-and-watch mode on policy after a recent escalation in inflation.

Traders see a 70.5 per cent chance of the first rate cut arriving in June and 89 per cent odds of that in July, as per CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

At 9:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 151.11 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 38,936.27, the S&P 500 was down 7.97 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 5,129.11, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 25.21 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 16,249.73.

Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the red, led by communication services.

Most megacap stocks inched lower, with Apple down 2.1 per cent following a US$2-billion EU antitrust fine for preventing Spotify and other music streaming services from informing users of payment options outside its App Store.

Nvidia outperformed peers with an advance of 3.2 per cent after its market value closed above US$2 trillion for the first time on Friday.

Other chipmakers including Micron Technology, Arm Holdings, and US-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing gained between 0.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent.

AI server maker Super Micro Computer and shoe maker Deckers Outdoor jumped 17.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively ahead of their inclusion in the S&P 500 index.

Macy’s jumped 16.4 per cent after real-estate-focused investing firm Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management raised their offer for the department store chain.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms including Coinbase Global, Bitfarms, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital climbed between 3.7 per cent and 7.1 per cent after bitcoin rallied to a two-year high and broke above $65,000.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.10-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 59 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 100 new highs and 24 new lows. — Reuters