Good afternoon, you're listening to Markets Desk.
Equities are under modest pressure today, with the S&P five hundred off roughly a third of a percent and the Nasdaq one hundred down nearly half a point, as Nvidia weakness pulls the broader chip and AI complex lower. Investors are rotating out of high-multiple tech names after recent gains, and the tape is reflecting that caution heading into the afternoon session.
Shifting to consumer credit, HELOC balances hit four hundred eighty one billion dollars in the third quarter, the largest single-quarter jump since two thousand five. The dynamic is straightforward — nearly half of all outstanding mortgages carry rates of four percent or lower, meaning millions of homeowners would rather tap their equity than surrender a rate they can never get back.
And in retail, Children's Place is shutting down entirely. The chain, which also owns Gymboree, filed for Chapter eleven earlier this month and has now confirmed it will close every remaining store. The announcement came quietly through its own website rather than a formal press release, which tells you something about where management's attention is right now — on the wind-down, not the optics.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
