U.S. stocks ended the session in the red on Thursday, weighed down by technology, as investors focused on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech scheduled for Friday at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

The S&P 500 fell 0.89% to 5,570.64 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.43% to 40,712.78 points. The Nasdaq Composite, a benchmark for the technology sector, fell 1.67% to 17,619.36 points.

Analysts are awaiting signals from Powell that the Fed will indeed proceed with a rate cut in September, as widely expected in markets. Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting, released on Wednesday, indicated that a cut would be “appropriate” if data came in in line with expectations.

According to the CME's FedWatch tool, the September rate cut has been fully discounted, with some doubt among analysts about whether it will be 25 or 50 basis points.

In U.S. economic readings on Wednesday, existing home sales rose slightly in July after four months of declines, while initial claims for unemployment benefits rose moderately to 232,000 last week.

Among the major market moves, fitness company Peloton surged 35.4%, its biggest gain ever, as it posted its first sales growth in nine quarters after executing a recovery plan. Software company Snowflake lost 14.7%, despite beating earnings expectations, as analysts deemed the benchmark too low.