NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes slipped to more than one-week lows on Tuesday after the CEOs of big US banks warned of a market selloff, fueling worries of stretched tech valuations, while an upbeat sales forecast from AI darling Palantir did not impress.
Chief executives of Wall Street heavyweights Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs cautioned that equity markets could be heading for a drawdown of around 10 percent to 15 percent, underscoring growing concerns over sky-high valuations.
“Any time you have markets propelled to these lofty levels or seen the trajectory that... (they have) had, any little piece of news can definitely trigger some sentiment in the other direction,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.
“You’re going to see people looking for little anecdotal evidence of reasons why they should be reducing risk.”
Shares of Palantir Technologies slid 7.5 percent, even as the data analytics company forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates. The stock has gained nearly 400 percent in the last 12 months.
Big Tech stocks also slipped, with Nvidia down 2.3 percent, Alphabet losing 1.8 percent and Microsoft off 0.7 percent. The information technology sector was the biggest drag on the S&P 500, down 1.3 percent.
At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 161.30 points, or 0.34 percent, the S&P 500 shed 48.16 points, or 0.70 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 285.68 points, or 1.20 percent.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, was near a two-week high.
Indexes touched all-time highs and notched solid gains in October as quarterly reports from Big Tech companies signaled surging AI investments, which powered a bull run in US equities this year.
However, doubts about the circular nature of the spending and the technology’s monetization have resurfaced, causing investors to retreat after a breakneck rally in AI-related stocks.
The rally will be under renewed scrutiny with semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices and Super Micro Computer reporting after the bell on Tuesday.
Third-quarter earnings have been resilient, with more than 83 percent of the S&P 500 companies that reported as of Saturday beating analyst expectations, compared to a long-term average of 67.2 percent, according to LSEG data.
With the US government shutdown matching the record for the longest one ever, private data has found renewed importance for investors and the Federal Reserve alike, with all eyes on Wednesday’s ADP National Employment numbers.
Recent conflicting commentary from Fed officials indicated differing perspectives on how to handle the data gap.
Local elections for New York’s mayor and governors in New Jersey and Virginia will also be closely tracked.
Among stocks, Uber slid 7.4 percent after the ride-hailing platform missed quarterly operating profit expectations, while Henry Schein gained 9.4 percent after raising its annual profit forecast.
Spotify and US-listed shares of Shopify reversed premarket gains to fall 2.2 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively, after quarterly results.
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