Benchmark indices on Wall Street took a pause after a three-day rally owing to pressure in shares of big tech.

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 fell 0.2% each, but the Nasdaq underperformed, declining 0.9% due to pressure in shares of Apple, Tesla, Nvidia and Alphabet, all of which fell between 1% to 4%. Apple had its worst day since August last year.

Even strong bank earnings failed to cheer indices, or they kept the losses in check. Morgan Stanley gained 4% after an earnings beat, while Bank of America beat estimates on most fronts, but the stock ended 1% lower.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.61%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC that officials could lower rates again in the first half of 2025 if inflation data continue to be favorable. He also wouldn’t entirely rule out a cut in March. Swap trading implied a little bit more easing this year.

Wall Street also kept a close eye on comments from Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, who said the US faces an economic crisis if the 2017 Republican tax cuts aren’t extended.

Bessent stressed that maintaining the greenback as the world’s reserve currency is critical. When asked about any inflationary impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s economic plans, Bessent said he believed the policies will bring inflation closer to the Fed’s target.

Despite the lack of strength in the equity market on Thursday, some traders pointed to a buy signal from the latest sentiment survey from the American Association of Individual Investors.

Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, decreased to 25.4%. Optimism is unusually low and is below its historical average of 37.5% for the third time in seven weeks, AAII said.

A third straight year of outsize gains in US stocks — a display of strength last seen in the 1990s — leads Bank of America Corp.’s list of potential market surprises for 2025.

After the S&P 500 Index soared 24% in 2023 and 23% in 2024, lofty valuations will make it tough to achieve such a performance again this year, as will risks including extreme concentration and uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy, BofA strategists led by Jared Woodard wrote in a report this week.

Even a solid corporate earnings season is unlikely to fuel a sustained rally in equity markets. That’s the view of Helen Jewell at BlackRock Inc., who warned the outlook for stocks remained fragile over the coming weeks amid concerns around economic growth and inflation.

“It’s going to be a rocky reporting season, although not necessarily as much on the earnings number itself,” Jewell said in an interview. “My nervousness is more on how much beats get rewarded versus how much misses get hit, particularly in the US where the valuation multiple is very high.”

(With Inputs From Agencies)