Wall Street experienced a relatively calm trading session on Wednesday, with major indices hovering close to their all-time highs. The S&P 500 dipped slightly by 0.1%, remaining just below its recent peak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 65 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite also saw a modest decline of 0.3% as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. Despite these minor setbacks, the overall market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic. Bank stocks showed resilience following stronger-than-expected earnings reports from Capital One Financial and Western Alliance Bancorp. The latter’s positive performance was particularly noteworthy, as it helped restore some confidence in the banking sector after recent concerns over potential bad loans. In the tech sector, Intuitive Surgical surged 16.5% after reporting robust quarterly profits, while GE Vernova added 0.5%. However, not all companies fared well. Netflix’s stock plummeted 8.3% after its latest earnings fell short of expectations, and AT&T dropped 4.5% after matching analysts’ forecasts. Texas Instruments also faced a 7.7% decline due to underwhelming results. On the other hand, Beyond Meat continued its meteoric rise, soaring 48.9% amid increased product availability at Walmart stores. Meanwhile, gold prices retreated further, slipping 0.8% to $4,075 per ounce, following a significant 5.3% drop the previous day. Despite this, gold remains up more than 50% for the year, driven by expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts and persistent inflation concerns. Overseas, European and Asian markets showed mixed performances, with London’s FTSE 100 rising 1% and South Korea’s Kospi jumping 1.6%, while Hong Kong and Paris experienced declines.