US close: Tech stocks lead markets lower as Fed meeting looms

(Sharecast News) - US stocks finished with steep losses on Tuesday as the selling pressure resumed after a brief two-day rebound, with blue chip tech names leading the decline. The Dow finished 0.6% lower, while S&P 500 dropped 1.1% and the Nasdaq sank 1.7%.

"It's been another dismal day for US markets with the Magnificent Seven once again leaving investors pondering if it's time for a name change," says Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

Markets had rallied strongly over the past two sessions as investors bought the dip with the S&P 500 hitting a six-month low on Thursday. However, the selling pressure quickly resumed on Tuesday as investors watched developments between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as they held a scheduled call to discuss ending Russia's war with Ukraine.

According to a Truth Social post by Trump, the premiers agreed to an "immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure", though this had little effect on equity markets.

Oil markets however reacted with a big drop in the price of crude as peace talks dampened concerns about supply disruptions from the conflict. WTI crude was down 1.3% at $66.70 a barrel, erasing earlier gains on the back of an escalation of conflict in the Middle East after military strikes resumed in Gaza.

Fed meeting looms, economic data beats forecasts

Investors were also beginning to look ahead to central bank meetings from across the globe - policymakers are meeting in the UK, Europe and Switzerland - with the Federal Reserve concluding its policy meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

"Geopolitics might be the thing dominating our news cycles, but this week looks set to be dominated by our old friend interest rates," AJ Bell's Hewson said.

"Central bankers in the US and UK are unlikely to make changes this time out but investors will be paying more attention to what they say about the outlook for the coming year, with tariff uncertainty and concerns about global growth expected to dominate discussions."

In other news, a raft of second-tier economic data came in ahead of forecasts, but failed to move markets substantially.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms industrial output grew by 0.7% during the month of February, ahead of the 0.2% gain expected.

Housing starts surged by 11.2% over February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.50m, the Census Bureau reported, coming in well ahead of the 1.38m expected by consensus. Building permits - closely watched as an indicator of future housing activity - fell by 1.2% in February to 1.46m, but still marginally above the 1.45m predicted by analysts.

Market movers

Alphabet was down 2% after agreeing to buy cloud security start-up Wiz in a blockbuster $32bn deal. The Google parent said the all-cash deal - its largest-ever - would accelerate two "large and growing trends in the AI era", cloud security and the ability to use multiple clouds. Wiz will become part of Google's cloud division, Google Cloud.

Nvidia dropped 3.4% after the semiconductor giant underwhelmed with announcements at its annual GTC conference, where 25,000 attendees heard from chief executive Jensen Huang in a keynote speech.

Other big name tech stocks were also in the red on Tuesday, including Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Apple.

Dow Jones - Risers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.23 1.33% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $160.81 1.32% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $503.80 0.96% Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.92 0.90% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.25 0.87% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $318.65 0.47% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $234.97 0.44% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $37.61 0.27% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $551.78 0.08% Visa Inc. (V) $334.77 0.07%

Dow Jones - Fallers

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $246.95 -2.38% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $85.59 -2.14% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $260.50 -1.75% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $336.71 -1.73% 3M Co. (MMM) $150.92 -1.49% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $383.52 -1.33% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $349.57 -1.29% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $167.71 -1.21% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.38 -1.06% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $60.30 -0.97%

S&P 500 - Risers

Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $66.10 4.39% Discover Financial Services (DFS) $158.83 3.82% Mosaic Company (MOS) $27.20 2.53% Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $28.77 2.17% Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) $168.78 2.13% Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW) $335.16 2.08% Humana Inc. (HUM) $269.78 2.03% Crown Castle International (CCI) $104.94 1.97% IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQV) $188.54 1.97% Dollar General Corp (DG) $81.41 1.95%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $203.38 -7.31% Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $52.34 -5.10% Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $19.07 -4.84% Gap Inc. (GAP) $19.32 -3.88% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $4.88 -3.75% Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $47.79 -3.75% Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $582.36 -3.73% Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $343.83 -3.69% Carnival Corp. (CCL) $20.12 -3.69% United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $71.34 -3.49%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $56.80 1.05% DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $15.73 0.90% Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.92 0.90% Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $36.01 0.73% Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $251.91 0.51% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $318.65 0.47% Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $70.88 0.43% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $72.00 0.28% Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $61.98 0.26% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $102.51 0.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $225.31 -5.34% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,002.80 -4.92% Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.19 -4.90% Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $582.36 -3.73% Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $343.83 -3.69% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $115.43 -3.43% eBay Inc. (EBAY) $65.24 -3.26% Incyte Corp. (INCY) $60.00 -3.24% Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $240.39 -3.11% Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $188.67 -3.00%