The S&P 500 fell Tuesday, dragged lower by declines in mega-cap tech stocks, as investors braced for quarterly reports from names in that cohort. Traders also set their eyes on Washington as the Federal Reserve began its latest policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials grew 203.66 points to 40,743.59.
The much-broader index slid 27.11 points to 5,436.44.
The NASDAQ tumbled 222.78 points, or 1.3%, to 17,147.42.
Nvidia shares pulled back by more than 5%, while Microsoft shed 1%. Other tech-related giants such as Amazon, Netflix and Apple also declined.
It is a big earnings week for mega-cap tech names. Microsoft is set to report after the bell Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple are on deck for later this week.
The earnings season has been a solid one thus far. Of the more than 230 S&P 500 names that have reported, about 80% have beaten earnings expectations.
CrowdStrike shares fell about 11.5% after media reports that Delta Air Lines hired attorney David Boies to seek damages from the cybersecurity company and Microsoft after an outage this month led to thousands of flight cancellations. Shares of CrowdStrike are down more than 40% this month, putting the stock on track for its worst month ever.
Merck shares dropped roughly 10% as weaker-than-expected guidance for the full year overshadowed a strong second-quarter report.
Procter & Gamble lost roughly 5.6% after its quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates due to disappointing demand in China.
The Fed’s two-day policy meeting began Tuesday, with investors hoping Chair Jerome Powell will signal the timing and number of rate cuts expected in the next few months. Traders have priced in a 100% chance for a September rate reduction
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, with yields falling to 4.14% from Monday’s 4.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices decreased 71 cents at $75.16 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shone brighter $27.50 to $2,405.30
