US stocks edged back from their records on Wednesday as financial markets consolidated after recent gains.

The S&P 500 fell 10.67 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,722.26. The Dow dipped 293.47, or 0.7 percent, to 41,914.75, and the Nasdaq composite added 7.68 points, or just under 0.1 percent, to 18,082.21.

In stock markets abroad, indexes moved more modestly after jumping the day before on hopes that new stimulus measures from China would prop up the world’s second-largest economy.

On Wall Street, Stitch Fix tumbled 39.5 percent after the online fashion styling service said its revenue in the current quarter could be 15 percent to 17 percent weaker than a year earlier. Its stock has dropped below US$3 from US$100 early in the pandemic.

KB Home fell 45.4 percent after reporting profit for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The homebuilder still said orders picked up in August as mortgage rates came down.

A separate report released on Wednesday morning said sales of new homes across the country slowed in August, but not by as much as economists feared.

The next date on the calendar circled for a potentially big market move is next week, when the latest monthly update on the US job market will arrive. Slowing hiring in the world’s largest economy has become the top concern among investors, now that inflation has eased significantly from its peak two summers ago .

The Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high for more than a year in hopes of slowing the US economy enough to stifle inflation. Last week, it cut the federal funds rate by a larger-than-usual half a percentage point.

A strong job market would help Cintas, which provides uniforms, fire extinguishers and other products to businesses. It rose 1.2 percent after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Cintas also increased its forecasts for profit and revenue over the full fiscal year.

Trump Media & Technology Group jumped 10.5 percent for its first back-to-back gain in two weeks. The stock had been struggling amid speculation about whether former President Donald Trump would sell some of his shares in the company behind the Truth Social network, now that he's free to do so. (AP)