Stock market today: Nasdaq leads stock slide as Wall Street braces for Powell speech

US stocks rolled over Thursday with tech leading the losses as investors turn their focus to a key speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday.

The S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) fell about 0.9% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^ IXIC ) fell almost 1.7%, led by a drop in shares of AI chip giant Nvidia ( NVDA ). The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) fell 0.5% after the three indexes closed in the green on Wednesday.

The Fed's Jackson Hole symposium kicked off Thursday with the market on high alert for any shift in tone from the policymakers when Powell speaks at the event on Friday .

Minutes from the Fed's last meeting showed several officials were open to a July rate cut, signaling a pivot is likely in next month's policy decision. Mounting hopes for lower rates have already helped markets recoup losses from an early August rout.

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Early Thursday morning, new data from the Department of Labor released Thursday showed 232,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ending Aug. 17, up from 228,000 the week prior and in line with economists' expectations.

The data released on Thursday morning was in higher focus given an official revision to payrolls showed the labor market — a key input for policymakers — may have been cooling long before initially thought. Signs of stress could factor into how deeply the Fed cuts rates, with hopes for a 0.5% reduction in play.