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US Equity Markets End Lower as Tech Stocks Fall

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US equity indexes ended lower on Tuesday after steep declines in mega-cap semiconductor and other tech stocks.

* The June flash reading of manufacturing conditions from S&P Global rose to a 49-month high of 55.7 from 55.1 in May, in contrast with an expected decrease to 54.6 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

* Redbook US same-store sales surged 10% from a year earlier in the week ended June 20 after a 9.4% year-over-year increase in the previous week.

* August West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.54 to settle at $73.32 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.82 at $77.08.

* International Business Machines (IBM) shares gained 5%, the top gainer on the Dow, after the company said late Monday it joined the OpenAI Daybreak Cyber Partner Program and launched a new application-security service. Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $267 from $225, while keeping its equalweight rating.

* Sandisk (SNDK) was down nearly 14%, the worst performer on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, accompanied by Micron Technology (MU), Arm (ARM), and other major tech firms with a market cap of over $200 billion. Tech stocks may face spillover impact from the selloff in South Korea, though the slide appears to be a "pullback/breather" in a market that nearly doubled this year, Wedbush Securities said in a note.

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