US stocks fluctuated Tuesday, with US indices giving up another day’s gains and extending the previous session’s sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 146 points or 0.4 percent. At the same time, the more broadly based S&P 500 and the technology-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively, to unwind some of the recent gains that pushed all the indices to new record levels.
Besides the Nasdaq Composite, technology stocks were particularly hard-hit on Wednesday; shares in AMD and GitLab plunged. The chipmaker AMD’s stock was down more than 2 percent in the wake of reports that it faced regulatory hurdles that blocked it from selling an artificial intelligence chip to China. GitLab, a platform service, plummeted by more than 13 percent after reporting a dismal outlook for the year.
Meanwhile, shares of tech leaders fell after Counterpoint Research said iPhone sales in China were ‘basically a washout’ in the first six weeks of 2024, sending Apple down more than 2 percent. Other mega-cap tech stocks, including Tesla, Netflix, and Microsoft, were also lower by more than 1 percent. The information technology (IT) sector for the S 8 P500 led the retreat down more than 1 percent.
Yet, not all was bad news. Target was up more than 11 percent after the retailer reported better-than-expected holiday quarter earnings and strength in the sales of Marshall’s, Macy’s, and Nordstrom chains. Following the better-than-expected quarterly earnings, AeroVironment moved 16 percent higher on the strength of sales from the large defense manufacturer.
These prices bounced back from Monday’s effects when Wall Street declined and hampered the Nasdaq Composite’s chances of closing at a record again.
Meanwhile, investors are watching other major economic data points released on Tuesday, including the S&P Global US Services Purchasing Managers’ Index, new orders for durable goods, and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index. These bits of news should also broaden investors’ perspective on where the US economy is heading and how that impacts future market moods.
Although the market has continued to churn, investors are still unsure whether stocks will fall further or if something new could lift them back up. Fears of what will happen at home and abroad could make or break the stock market’s next move.
Source: Alex Harring and Hakyung Kim, CNBC March 5, 2024
