Equities on Wall Street finished widely lower on Tuesday, led down by steep drops in Big Tech stocks, which sent the Nasdaq to its lowest level since September 2020.
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Traders are constantly analysing the latest round of corporate earnings, with some of the country’s largest corporations reporting results this week. Earnings growth has been one of the market’s cornerstones, but the reports haven’t alleviated investors’ fears about growing inflation, interest rate rises, and the possible impact of pandemic-related lockdowns in China on global economic development.
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The S&P 500 fell 120.92 points or 2.8% to 4,175.20. The benchmark index closed the day with 95% of its stocks losing ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 809.28 points, or 2.4%, to 33,240.18.
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The tech-heavy Nasdaq bore the brunt of the day’s losses. It fell 514.11 points, or 4%, to 12,490.74. That’s its worst drop since Sept. 8, 2020. The index is now down 20% so far this year as investors shun the ultra-pricey tech sector, which had made gangbuster gains for much of the pandemic.
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With the Federal Reserve set to aggressively raise interest rates as it steps up its inflation fight, traders are less and less willing to endure the lofty prices they had been paying for Microsoft, Facebook’s parent company and other tech giants.
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Microsoft fell 3.7%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, fell 3.6% in regular trading and lost another 6% in after-hours trading after reporting results that fell short of analysts’ estimates.
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More big technology companies are on deck to report earnings this week, including Facebook parent’s company, Meta, on Wednesday, and Apple on Thursday.
Tesla slumped 12.2% over concerns that CEO Elon Musk will be distracted and less engaged in running the electric vehicle maker as he buys social media company Twitter, which fell 3.9%.
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Retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending also fell broadly. General Motors fell 4.5% while Nike slipped 5.8%.
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General Electric fell 10.3% for one of the sharpest losses in the market after telling investors that inflation and other pressures are weighing on its profit forecast for the year.
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Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.73% from 2.82% late Monday.
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Energy companies eked out a gain, the only one of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 to do so. The price of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 3.2%.
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After rallying in the second half of March, stocks have been on shaky ground in April. The S&P 500 has fallen for three straight weeks.