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STORY: U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, with megacap stocks dragging down the main indexes, as investors grew less confident about future rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow and S&P 500 both finished almost a percent lower, while the Nasdaq lost more than a percent and a half.

Shares of McDonald's fell 5% after the CDC said an E. coli outbreak linked to the fast-food restaurant's Quarter Pounder hamburgers killed one and sickened many. 

Shares of Starbucks rose despite the coffee giant suspending its forecast amid falling demand for its pricey drinks.

Stephen Lee is principal at Logan Capital.

“The market today does seem a little bit of weakness-driven, somewhat by some concerns about the consumer that had been expected to be a little more resilient after the Fed rate cuts, that maybe there's some disappointment. So you’re seeing some of the quick service restaurants, the McDonald's, Starbucks commentary and some others, you know, cast a little bit of doubt on consumer strength. So we see some of those names leading the market down. In addition, obviously, the E. coli issue of McDonald's is putting a cloud on, on that as well. So, in general, while earnings have been okay, today has been a little bit of a disappointment versus what we've been seeing in the past week or two.”

Shares of another consumer company, Coca-Cola, fell 2% after it said business in China and the Middle East was weakening.

Among the rate-sensitive megacap stocks, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms all lost more than 2%.

The decline comes as 10-year Treasury yields reached a three-month high with investors reassessing the Fed rate-cut outlook over the next few months against the backdrop of strong economic data and the upcoming presidential election.