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.
