NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 215.27 points, or 0.42%, to close at 51,092.52 on Wednesday, reflecting investor caution amid mixed economic signals and ongoing uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates.

The blue-chip index spent much of the session in negative territory as traders digested fresh data showing resilient consumer spending but persistent inflationary pressures in key sectors. Technology and financial shares led the decline, while energy stocks provided some support amid stable oil prices.

Wednesday’s pullback extends a modest losing streak for the Dow, which has struggled to maintain momentum after hitting record highs earlier in 2026. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also finished lower, though losses were contained as broader market sentiment remained cautiously optimistic about corporate earnings.

Analysts pointed to several factors behind the session’s decline. Recent inflation readings have shown core prices remaining above the Fed’s 2% target, tempering expectations for aggressive rate cuts later this year. Traders are now pricing in roughly two quarter-point reductions by year-end, down from more aggressive forecasts earlier in the spring.

The labor market also remains a focal point. While jobless claims stayed relatively low, signs of cooling in certain service sectors raised questions about the strength of consumer demand heading into the second half of the year. Strong retail sales figures provided some reassurance, but higher borrowing costs continue to weigh on interest-rate-sensitive industries.

Major Dow components contributed to the downside. Shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase slipped amid concerns over net interest margins, while technology bellwethers like Apple and Microsoft faced pressure from rotation out of recent winners. On the positive side, Caterpillar and Chevron bucked the trend as investors sought exposure to industrial and energy names less sensitive to immediate rate policy shifts.

Market breadth was negative, with declining issues outnumbering advancers on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was moderate, suggesting the move reflected position adjustments rather than outright panic selling. Volatility measures, including the VIX, ticked modestly higher but remained below levels associated with major market stress.

This session comes as investors prepare for a busy period of economic releases and corporate earnings. Key data on wholesale inflation and weekly jobless claims are due later in the week, potentially offering clearer signals on the Fed’s likely path. Several large companies are also scheduled to report results, which could influence sentiment across sectors.

Fed officials have maintained a data-dependent stance in recent public comments. While inflation has moderated from 2022 peaks, progress toward the central bank’s target has been uneven. Markets will closely watch upcoming speeches and the next FOMC meeting for any shifts in tone regarding the balance between supporting growth and containing price pressures.

Broader economic context remains relatively supportive. GDP growth has held steady above 2% annualized in recent quarters, supported by resilient consumer spending and business investment. However, high interest rates continue to constrain housing activity and certain capital expenditures, creating uneven performance across industries.

International developments also influenced trading. European markets showed mixed results amid regional political uncertainty, while Asian indices closed mostly lower. The U.S. dollar strengthened modestly against major currencies, adding pressure on multinational companies with significant overseas revenue.

Despite Wednesday’s decline, the Dow remains up substantially year-to-date, reflecting solid gains driven by strong corporate profits and artificial intelligence enthusiasm. The index has benefited from resilient earnings growth, particularly in financials, industrials and healthcare sectors.

Looking ahead, analysts expect continued volatility as markets digest incoming data. Some strategists recommend focusing on companies with strong balance sheets and pricing power that can navigate a higher-for-longer rate environment. Others see opportunities in sectors poised to benefit from eventual monetary easing, such as real estate and utilities.

The current environment underscores the market’s sensitivity to policy signals. With the presidential election cycle in the background and fiscal policy debates ongoing in Washington, investors remain attuned to potential shifts in government spending and tax frameworks that could influence growth trajectories.

Corporate America has largely delivered on earnings expectations so far this season. Forward guidance from major firms will be critical in determining whether recent gains can be sustained. Technology and consumer discretionary names face higher scrutiny given elevated valuations in those areas.

Bond yields moved modestly higher during the session, with the 10-year Treasury note rising above recent lows. This dynamic reflects shifting rate expectations and contributed to pressure on growth stocks. Credit markets remained stable, indicating no immediate stress in corporate borrowing conditions.

For individual investors, Wednesday’s move serves as a reminder of the importance of diversification and long-term perspective. While daily fluctuations capture headlines, the broader trend since 2023 has been one of gradual recovery and expansion driven by innovation and economic adaptability.

Sector rotation remains a dominant theme. Capital has shifted toward areas perceived as more defensive or undervalued, while some high-growth names experienced profit-taking. This dynamic is typical during periods of policy uncertainty and economic transition.

The Dow’s performance this year highlights the resilience of large-cap industrial and financial companies. Their ability to generate consistent cash flow provides a buffer during uncertain times, supporting the index even as other segments face headwinds.

As the trading week continues, focus will remain on economic indicators and central bank rhetoric. Any surprises in inflation or labor data could prompt meaningful repricing of rate cut expectations and influence near-term market direction.

Overall, the U.S. stock market continues to navigate a complex landscape of solid fundamentals tempered by policy caution. Wednesday’s modest decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average fits within normal market fluctuations rather than signaling a major reversal in sentiment.

Investors will watch closely for confirmation of economic trends in the coming days. With summer approaching and corporate earnings largely complete, attention will increasingly turn toward second-half growth prospects and the Fed’s policy trajectory for the remainder of 2026.

Investors looking to participate in IT services major Wipro’s share buyback worth Rs 15,000 crore will likely have to purchase the shares of the company latest by today (Thursday) before the stock goes ex-record date for the corporate action on Friday.

Wipro fixed June 5 (Friday) as the record date for its Rs 15,000 crore share buyback. Only those shareholders who own the shares of the company in their demat accounts as on the record date will be eligible to tender shares.

As per SEBI‘s T+1 settlement norm, investors must buy the company’s shares at least one trading day before the record date so that they are credited to their demat accounts by that date, making them eligible for the reward. This makes June 4 (Thursday) the last date to buy the shares so that they are credited to the shareholders’ accounts by the record date (Friday).

All about Wipro’s share buyback

Wipro earlier in April had announced a share buyback at Rs 250 per share, offering a 22.5% premium over the stock’s last closing price of Rs 204 apiece on NSE. The share buyback marks the first such action announced by the IT major in nearly three years. The company’s board approved the plan to buy back up to 60 crore shares, representing 5.7% of the total paid-up share capital, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 15,000 crore.

The buyback will be done via the tender route, and all shareholders on the record date, including those who received the equity shares after cancelling their American Depository Receipts (ADR), will be eligible to take part in the corporate action. Wipro added that promoters and promoter groups have indicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback.
Also read: Wipro promoters to join Rs 15,000 cr buyback; what it means for retail investors

Buyback of shares refers to a corporate action where a company repurchases its own shares from the existing shareholders. Usually, the company purchases the shares at a higher price than the current levels, encouraging investors to participate. Typically, a company decides to buy back its shares in order to increase share value, utilise surplus cash, prevent hostile takeovers or increase promoter holdings.

Should you participate in Wipro’s buyback?

Taking Wipro’s previous buyback trends and a relatively lean retail shareholding pattern into consideration, HDFC Securities came up with two investment scenarios. On the conservative side, the brokerage assumed a relatively lower acceptance ratio than the previous offer, that is around 45-50%. “This presents a compelling short-term opportunity for retail investors, offering a potential return (net) of 8-9% over a duration of 2–3 months,” it said.

On the aggressive side, HDFC Securities said that there is a strong quantitative basis to project a high retail acceptance ratio in the range of 70–80% (acceptance ratio was at 78% in 2023). It added that this presents a short-term opportunity for retail investors, offering a potential return (net) of 13–14% over a duration of 2–3 months.

“Given this track record of outperformance and the prospect of stable returns amidst current market volatility, the acceptance ratio is expected to remain significantly higher. Consequently, we recommend a tactical “Buy” for retail investors looking to optimise short-term capital allocation by participating in the upcoming offer,” HDFC Securities said.

Motilal Oswal Wealth Management meanwhile said that retail investors looking for short-term opportunities can buy the shares of Wipro. “Based on the last two buybacks of Wipro and very low retail shareholding, we expect the acceptance ratio to remain high in the range of 50-60% which could give a potential return of 11-13% (pre-tax) with a time frame of 2-3 months,” it added.

Wipro share price

Wipro shares gained more than 1% in one week and 2% in one month. The stock is however down around 24% in 2026 so far, falling 17% in one year.

In the longer term, the shares of the company gained only 1% in three years, but fell 24% in five years.

Also read: What’s ahead for IT major Wipro’s 26 lakh shareholders?

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

The shares of Indian IT companies sharply crashed on Wednesday, erasing nearly all gains recorded during the previous three-day gaining streak. Analysts however advised investors planning to buy the dip to exercise caution, listing several reasons why.

The Nifty IT index plunged nearly 6% on Wednesday, led by an 8% crash in TCS shares which recorded their sharpest single-day drop since the infamous COVID-19 crash of 2020. Persistent Systems, LTI Mindtree and Coforge shares sank nearly 7%, while Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech shares plunged 5-6%. Infosys shares tumbled 4%, while Wipro shares closed 3% lower.

This comes after the Nifty IT index jumped more than 4% on Tuesday to record its highest single day gain since May 2026. The index soared nearly 8% in just three sessions, before Wednesday’s sharp crash.

What led to the crash in IT stocks?

Analysts mostly attributed the sharp plunge in IT stocks to profit booking after the bull run. Apoorva Khandelwal from Anand Rathi Institutional Equity explained that IT stocks had previously jumped after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that AI agents will be a big multiplier for software usage, which calmed fears that AI would dent software demand. This, along with Snowflake’s upbeat results, hopes of stronger AI-led spending, a weaker rupee, and expectations of US rate cuts boosted the stocks. However, the analyst added that the up move ran too far too fast, so investors are simply cashed in their gains.

Have IT stocks bottomed out? Khandelwal believes not. He advised investors to expect more such swings at least until the hype-laden three IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic in the US, because prices now move sharply every time a new AI tool or model launches. “But the long-term story stays intact as clients move from building AI to actually using it across their businesses, Indian IT does that hands-on work and several new revenue pools are opening up,” he added, advising investors to use these dips to slowly accumulate select scaled large-caps like Infosys and LTM, and Persistent and Mphasis in mid-caps.
Uttam Kumar Srimal, Senior Research Analyst at Axis Direct, also explained that IT stocks could remain volatile as markets assess the impact of global economic conditions, interest rates, AI disruption fears creating doubts about long-term growth and pricing power for traditional IT services companies, corporate technology spending trends. From an investors stand point, the key variables to monitor over the next few quarters will be the recovery in U.S. discretionary spending, the extent to which AI starts contributing meaningfully to revenues, and improvements in utilization and hiring trends across the industy, he said.

Simple profit booking or fundamental weakness in IT stocks?

Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVasset PMS, meanwhile said that the weakness in IT index is not just an AI-disruption story. AI may be the immediate trigger, but the larger problem is that valuations still do not reflect the slowdown in growth. He said that Wednesday’s crash was market’s way of saying “this was more of a dead cat bounce than a genuine trend reversal”. When a sector is growing at barely low single digits but continues to trade at mid to high teen earnings multiples, the risk-reward becomes difficult to defend, he added.

The rupee’s depreciation has helped reported earnings at the margin, but currency cannot compensate for weak client spending, slower deal conversion and the structural pressure AI is placing on the traditional outsourcing model, the analyst further said, adding that the bigger issue is that FIIs now have better alternatives. Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the US offer more direct exposure to AI-led earnings growth, while Indian IT is still trying to prove how AI will replace lost revenue rather than compress it, he said.

“Large IT companies remain high-quality businesses with strong balance sheets and cash flows, but quality alone cannot support premium valuations when earnings visibility is fading. Until the sector shows clear AI-led revenue acceleration, every bounce is likely to meet supply. The setup remains cautious, and the burden of proof is now on earnings, not commentary,” according to Dasani.

Technical view on IT stocks

Hitesh Rathi from Angel One meanwhile explained the move from a technical perspective. He said that the recent rebound in IT stocks was largely driven by the Nifty IT index approaching a major long-term support zone near the 50% Fibonacci retracement of its rally from the 2020 lows, which also coincides with a key historical swing low.

However, from a trend perspective, caution remains warranted. Rathi advised investors to look at the previous rebound as a relief rally within a broader corrective phase.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Bank of America on Wednesday announced that it will be hiring nearly 4,000 summer interns and full-time recruits from campuses this summer as the nation’s second-largest bank looks to bring new talent into its workforce.

The firm said in a release that the hiring plans are reflective of Bank of America’s deliberate and ongoing approach to recruiting high-performing talent from more than 500 colleges and universities to support the bank’s clients and drive its long-term growth.

“Our approach to hiring is intentional and long term,” said Sheri Bronstein, chief people officer at Bank of America. 

“We focus on attracting the best talent with the right skills, potential, and a strong career mindset – and we invest in growing that talent through long-term careers that meet the needs of our clients and drive responsible growth,” Bronstein added.

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Bank of America’s announcement noted that the financial services provider remains committed to other previously-announced initiatives aimed at hiring entry-level workers.

The bank’s military veteran program has resulted in over 20,000 hires to date, the bank said. It added that it is also continuing to hire from community colleges around the country and its other early career programs to meet the evolving needs of the firm’s global client base.

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Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BAC	BANK OF AMERICA CORP.	52.40	-0.08	-0.15%

Last fall, Bank of America said that it aims to hire another 10,000 more individuals with military backgrounds over the next five years – adding to the more than 20,000 hires dating back to 2015 and raising the new goal to 30,000 from that time.

Its September 2025 announcement also said it planned to move forward with 8,000 new hires from community colleges over the next five years, doubling its annual hires from 800 to 1,600 in that period of time.

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Bank of America also said in September that it plans to invest in 700 jobs within its network of financial centers in new growth markets, including Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana and Wisconsin. 

The jobs would support the opening of 26 financial centers over the next 18 months and 37 financial centers in those states in 2027.

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The company also announced Wednesday it has donated $2 million to purchase FIFA World Cup tickets for members of the U.S. military, veterans, first responders and their families to see games across the tournament for free.

Operator

Good evening. Welcome to the IDT Corporation’s Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference call is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Bill Ulrey of IDT Investor Relations. Bill, you may begin.

Bill Ulrey
Vice President of Investor Relations & External Affairs

Thank you, John. In today’s presentation, IDT’s Chief Executive Officer, Shmuel Jonas; and Chief Financial Officer, Marcelo Fischer, will discuss IDT’s financial and operational results for the 3 months, ended April 30, 2026.

After their remarks, they will take your questions. Any forward-looking statements made during this conference call, either in their remarks or during the Q&A that follows, whether general or specific in nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those, which the company anticipates. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, specific risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that IDT files periodically with the SEC. IDT assumes no obligation either to update any forward-looking statements that they have made or may make or to update the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that they forecast.

In their presentation or in the Q&A session, IDT’s management may make reference to non-GAAP measures, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP earnings per share, NRS’ Rule of 40 score and adjusted net cash provided by operating activities. Schedules provided in the IDT earnings release reconcile these non-GAAP measures to the nearest corresponding GAAP measures.

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Q1: 2026-05-28 Earnings Summary

EPS of $2.99 beats by $0.15

 | Revenue of $1.93B (18.43% Y/Y) beats by $41.97M

Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference June 3, 2026 7:00 PM EDT

Company Participants

Janesh Moorjani – Executive VP & CFO

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Conference Call Participants

Tomer Zilberman – BofA Securities, Research Division

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Presentation

Tomer Zilberman
BofA Securities, Research Division

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Tomer Zilberman, and I lead coverage of the vertical software and back office applications sector here at Bank of America. I’m very excited to be closing out Day 2 of our conference with Janesh Moorjani, CFO of Autodesk. Janesh, first of all, thank you for being with us. And I know you want to read a safe harbor statement and say some other words before we start.

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Janesh Moorjani
Executive VP & CFO

Well, this is the most important announcement of the day. We may make forward-looking statements during the course of this presentation. Please refer to our SEC filings for information on risks and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. So now that we’re all a little bit safer. But thank you for having us, Tomer. We appreciate it. And thank you for picking up coverage. I want to thank Koji as well. I see him in the audience there. Terrific working with him. And we appreciate the partnership with BofA.

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Question-and-Answer Session

Tomer Zilberman
BofA Securities, Research Division

So big shoes to fill after Koji. Maybe to start with a high-level question, Janesh. For the investors that are newer to the story, Autodesk has went through several business model transitions over the last few years. So if you could just kind of remind us what they are — what the impact was for the business over the last few years? And really how does it position you appropriately for AI and Agentic?

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