a rally in megacap technology shares helped power sp 500 gains for much of may major stock indexes fell wednesday as economic concerns and fears of a federal reserve rate increase remained on investors’ minds the sp 500 and the nasdaq composite index both retreated 06 while the dow jones industrial average was 04 lower us labor department data showed an increase in job openings in april reversing three months of declines and renewing investor concerns that the fed isn’t finished lifting interest rates traders in interest rate futures have in recent days swung between pricing in a pause from the fed or an additional rate hike at its coming june meeting they saw a greater than 60 chance of a rate increase after the jobs data wednesday morning but that fell to 30 after fed governor philip jefferson said later in the day the central bank could hold interest rates steady at its next meeting but still lift them afterward stocks rallied off their lows of the day following jefferson’s comments “i see today’s report as adding marginally to the case for additional tightening a strong jobs report on friday would add to this case further as the fed cannot afford to pause prematurely with core inflation well above 5” said ronald temple chief market strategist at lazard treasury yields slid with the yield on the 10year note falling to 3636 from 3697 a day earlier a rally in the shares of megacap technology companies nvidia microsoft and googleparent alphabet helped power the sp 500 higher for much of the month of may some investors were concerned about the market’s reliance on just a handful of big stocks while the sp 500 is up 89 yeartodate the equal weighted version of the index is up 02 “if you can get some clarity on a recession its timing and what the fed is going to do hopefully we’ll get some greater breadth that will allow the market to push higher without those things we’re kind of stuck” said michael arone chief investment strategist at state street global advisors “i think there is a limit to how high the megacap tech stocks can go and how much they can contribute” he added hedge funds and other speculators have built up a bet that the sp 500 will decline marking their mostbearish positioning since 2007 according to data compiled by bespoke investment group they are more optimistic about tech stocks with net bets that the nasdaq100 will rally near their highest levels since late 2022 according to the data from the commodity futures trading commission compiled by bespoke investors however pared back bets in recent weeks nvidia shares fell 57 wednesday ending a furious threeday rally that saw the chip maker’s market capitalization briefly cross over the 1 trillion mark during tuesday trading investors have been piling into nvidia shares in a bet that its technology will be in high demand from companies that produce generative artificial intelligence like the chatgpt platform nvidia rival intel was the sp 500’s best performer wednesday after its chief financial officer said intel is on pace to hit the upper end of its revenue guidance for the second quarter the shares closed up 48 advance auto parts was the index’s laggard the auto parts retailer’s shares plunged 35 after it reported a sharp drop in quarterly profit global markets were broadly lower following a weak economic data release in china an official gauge of china’s manufacturing activity slipped unexpectedly in may even after the country eased its strict zerocovid restrictions overseas the stoxx europe 600 dropped 11 china’s shanghai composite index fell 06 and japan’s nikkei 225 was down 14 oil extended its decline after the chinese manufacturing data brent crude futures fell 12 to 7266 a barrel china is the world’s largest crude oil importer