NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes fell to near two-week lows on Thursday, as technology stocks came under fresh selling pressure, while US tariff concerns and uncertainty around the health of the economy kept investors on edge.
Most tech stocks declined as worries over stretched valuations resurfaced, after a brief respite on Wednesday. Warnings of a market pullback from Wall Street executives on Tuesday had prompted a sharp equity sell-off led by AI-linked stocks.
Heavyweights Microsoft and Nvidia lost 1.8 percent and 3 percent, respectively, weighing on the information technology sector. The broader semiconductor index was down 2.4 percent.
Qualcomm dipped 4.9 percent after the chip designer warned of a possible loss of business next year from its key customer, Samsung, but issued an upbeat forecast.
DoorDash slumped 16.5 percent to the bottom of the S&P 500 after the delivery firm reported third-quarter profit below Wall Street expectations, while Tapestry lost 10.7 percent after forecasting holiday-quarter earnings below expectations.
The stocks weighed on the consumer discretionary sector, which fell 2.7 percent.
Tesla fell 4.5 percent, ahead of a shareholders’ vote, where they will decide on CEO Elon Musk’s heavy compensation among other proposals.
“We have uncertainty from the Fed decision next month, on where the tariffs are going, with the government shutdown... the markets are a little bit cautious right now,” said Dennis Dick, chief strategist at Stock Trader Network.
“It’s been an excellent couple of months for the market and a little bit of a corrective phase here is warranted.”
At 12:02 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 490.10 points, or 1.04 percent, to 46,820.90, the S&P 500 lost 76.72 points, or 1.13 percent, to 6,719.71 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 424.46 points, or 1.81 percent, to 23,075.34.
The longest US government shutdown in history has led to investors and the Federal Reserve to rely on mixed private sector indicators ahead of December’s monetary policy meeting. Global outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas said on Thursday layoffs announced by US employers surged in October, marking the highest level for the month in 22 years, while data from Revelio Labs showed the economy shed jobs last month.
An estimate by the Chicago Fed showed US jobless rate likely edged up in October to the highest in four years.
The datasets were in contrast to Wednesday’s strong ADP report, spurring uncertainty over the health of the US labor market.
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