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Wall Street Slumps For Third Straight Day As Investor Sentiment Fades, Dollar Strength Resumes, Boeing Disappoints: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

Wall Street is on track for its third consecutive day of losses as investors grow cautious about risky assets, awaiting more clarity on U.S. fiscal and monetary policies and scrutinizing the latest batch of corporate earnings.

Both equities and commodities took a hit on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar gained strength, attracting investor flows as traders moved to safer cash positions.

The U.S. dollar index, as tracked by the the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF (NYSE:UUP), rose 0.5%, reaching levels last seen in late July.

At midday in New York, the S&P 500 was down 0.7%, attempting to hold support around the 5,800-point level. The Dow Jones also dropped 0.7%, and tech stocks, along with small caps, fared worse, sliding by 0.9%.

On the data front, mortgage applications declined for the fourth straight week, reflecting continued pressure from elevated borrowing costs.

Existing home sales fell by 1% in September to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.84 million, the lowest level since October 2010. This follows an upwardly revised 3.88 million in August and missed forecasts of 3.9 million.

Despite ...