Wednesday was one of those days where Wall Street just couldn't find its footing. Technology stocks stumbled, banks took a beating after lackluster earnings, and the whole market seemed to be holding its breath ahead of a Supreme Court decision that could reshape the tariff landscape.

The big question hanging over everything? Whether the Supreme Court will uphold President Donald Trump's tariffs. According to Polymarket, traders are putting only a 35% probability on the judges ruling in favor of the tariffs. That kind of uncertainty tends to make investors nervous, and it showed in the price action.

The Nasdaq 100 bore the brunt of the selling pressure, sliding more than 1.5% by midday trading in New York. That puts it on pace for its worst session in nearly a month. Semiconductors were the main culprits, with Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) shares tumbling roughly 5%, Oracle Corp. (ORCL) dropping about 4.5%, and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) declining 2.5%.

The broader market didn't fare much better. The S&P 500 fell nearly 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.5% lower. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, jumped 11% as uncertainty crept into trading.

Bank stocks were among the session's hardest hit after earnings disappointments from Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC). Both lenders missed expectations, sending their shares down by 4% each. When two major financial institutions stumble on the same day, it tends to drag the entire sector down with them.

But not everything was red on Wednesday. Energy emerged as the standout sector, rising more than 2.4% to its highest level since November 2024. The rally was fueled by oil prices eyeing a sixth straight day of gains. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed over 1% to $62 a barrel, with geopolitical risks tied to Iran continuing to shape the global energy market.

Commodities more broadly were having a moment. Gold rose 0.5% to $4,610 an ounce, while silver extended its record-breaking rally above $90 an ounce, gaining another 4%. Those kinds of moves typically signal investors looking for safe havens or hedging against uncertainty.

Crypto markets also showed signs of renewed momentum, with Bitcoin (BTC) rising for a fourth consecutive session to $97,000. The cryptocurrency has been on a steady climb, benefiting from what appears to be renewed institutional interest.

Wednesday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Looking at the major exchange-traded funds, the pain was distributed pretty evenly across the board:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF slid 1.04% to $631.42.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.56% to $489.19.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series sank 1.71% to $615.56.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF edged down 0.19% to $260.85.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund outperformed with a 2.3% gain, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund lagged, down 2.0%.

The sector divergence tells the story pretty clearly. Energy was the place to be, while technology was the place you wanted to avoid.

Russell 1000's Top Gainers On Wednesday

Russell 1000's Top Losers On Wednesday

The day's biggest winners were a mixed bag, with Viking Therapeutics leading the charge with a 9.06% gain. Materials companies like The Mosaic Company and MP Materials also posted solid gains. On the flip side, the losers list was dominated by technology names, with AppLovin and Unity Software both dropping more than 10%.