Wary Wall Street finishes lower as reports loom

NEW YORK — Wall Street ticked lower Tuesday ahead of two potentially market-shaking events later in the week.

The S&P 500 slipped 12.22, or 0.3%, to 4,387.55 to give back some of its rare August gain from a day before, which was powered by Big Tech stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 174.86 points, or 0.5%, to 34,288.83 and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 8.28, or 0.1%, to 13,505.87.

Stocks have struggled this month as yields have shot upward in the bond market, which cranks up the pressure on other investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased a bit Tuesday, a day after reaching its highest level since 2007.

Nvidia, one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks, swung from an early gain to a loss of 2.8% ahead of its earnings report today, one that could be pivotal for the stock market.

The chipmaker has been at the center of Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, which investors believe will create immense profits for companies. Nvidia’s stock has already more than tripled this year, and it likely faces a high a bar to justify the huge move.

Analysts expect Nvidia to say today that its revenue swelled by nearly $4.5 billion to $11.19 billion during the spring from a year earlier.

Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods plunged 24.1% after its profit for the latest quarter fell well short of expectations. It also cut its forecast for earnings over the full year, citing “inventory shrink.” That’s a term the industry uses to refer to theft and other losses of goods that never become sales.

Macy’s shares fell 14.1% despite reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. It also stood by its financial forecasts for the full year, though it said economic conditions look uncertain.

On the winning side of Wall Street, Lowe’s shares gained 3.7% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The home improvement retailer also stood by its forecast for results over the full year, and it said it gave more than $100 million in bonuses to its front-line workers.

Shares of Microsoft edged up by 0.2% as U.K. regulators consider a revamped bid by the company to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard, which would be one of the biggest deals in tech history.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield ticked down to 4.32% from 4.34% late Monday. It’s the center of the bond market and helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more on expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose to 5.04% from 5.00%.

More fireworks could come later this week, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a highly anticipated speech. He’ll be speaking Friday at an event in Jackson Hole, Wyo., the site of several major policy announcements by the Fed in the past.

Based on the action in markets for volatility, traders are bracing for the Jackson Hole speech to be a bigger potential deal than Nvidia’s earnings report, according to Barclays strategists led by Stefano Pascale and Anshul Gupta.

In recent years, everything from commodities to bonds to foreign stocks has become more vulnerable to outsized moves around Jackson Hole, the strategists say.

Information for this article was contributed by Matt Ott and Joe McDonald of The Associated Press.