LONDON: Wall Street's major stock indexes closed lower on Tuesday, with a 1 per cent drop in the technology-heavy Nasdaq leading losses as chip stocks tumbled on demand concerns while the energy sector fell 3 per cent as oil prices dropped.
Earnings reports were a mixed bag with positive reactions to some financial services results contrasting with an 8 per cent slump in shares of UnitedHealth after the health insurer forecast 2025 profit below Wall Street estimates.
The Nasdaq came under particular pressure from market heavyweight Nvidia, the leading chip maker for artificial intelligence. Nvidia shares fell 4.7 per cent after scoring a record-high close on Monday and after a media report that the Biden administration is considering capping AI chip exports by U.S. companies.
Chip stocks lost ground broadly after results of chip-equipment-maker ASML Holdings showed downbeat expectations for 2025 sales. ASML's U.S.-listed shares tumbled 16 per cent and helped drag down the Philadelphia semiconductor index 5.3 per cent for its biggest one-day drop since early September.
"There seems to be a lot more stress concentrated in chips. This is putting downward pressure on technology as a sector," said Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
But while Gordon saw weaker-than-expected earnings as an excuse to sell off chip stocks, he was encouraged that there were roughly as many stocks advancing as declining on the Nasdaq.
"It's not a broad-based washout," he said, noting that stocks that were selling off on the day had previously outperformed. "It's indicative of megacap stocks pulling down the indexes."
The energy industry index finished down 3 per cent for its biggest one-day percentage decline since early October 2023 as crude prices fell on weaker demand expectations after a media report suggested Israel would not strike Iranian oil targets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 324.80 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 42,740.42, the S&P 500 lost 44.59 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 5,815.26 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 187.10 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 18,315.59.
Notably, both the Dow and the S&P 500 registered record closing highs in the previous session.
Behind energy, the S&P 500's technology index was the biggest decliner, losing 1.8 per cent.
But defensive sectors outperformed, with real estate the biggest advancer, adding 1.2 per cent, followed by consumer staples up 0.6 per cent and utilities, which ended up 0.5 per cent.
In the financial sector, Bank of America shares rose 0.5 per cent following a third-quarter profit beat, while Charles Schwab shares climbed 6 per cent after exceeding estimates.
However, Citigroup shares fell 5 per cent after it reported mixed results with net income declining and net interest income weaker than expected while debt underwriting propped up its investment banking results.
Bucking the trend of tech stock declines, Apple finished up 1.1 per cent after earlier touching a record high.
Also, Walgreens Boots Alliance shares rallied 15.8 per cent after narrowly beating Wall Street's lowered estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit and announcing plans to shut 1,200 stores to cut costs.
Investors will watch in coming days for the next batch of earnings as well as key economic data, including monthly retail sales and industrial production figures.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said that even after September's interest-rate cut, policymakers were still working to bring down inflation.
Traders are pricing in a roughly 98 per cent chance the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November, according to CME's FedWatch.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 514 new highs and 41 new lows.
On the Nasdaq, 2,109 stocks rose and 2,214 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.05-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 112 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite posted 173 new highs and 82 new lows.
On U.S. exchanges 12.85 billion shares changed hands compared with the 12.18 billion average for the last 20 days.