Stock market today: Wall Street slides and Dow drops 600 as traders pare forecasts for rate cuts

U.S. stocks are dropping as traders scale back expectations for how much relief the Federal Reserve will deliver next week when it begins cutting interest rates. The S&P 500 was down 1.5% in midday trading Wednesday in a wipeout where 95% of the stocks within the index were falling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 650 points, or 1.6%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.2%. The drops came after the latest update on inflation pushed traders to trim their forecasts for the size of the Fed's upcoming cut to interest rates. They're now largely expecting a cut of only a quarter of a percentage point.