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US Equity Indexes Decline as Technology Comes Under Selling Pressure
US equity indexes traded mixed but were off session lows amid a semiconductor-led decline in technology shares on Tuesday.The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1% to 25,678.82, with the S&P 500 down 0.3% to 7,386.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 50,872.11, after trading lower earlier in the day.Real estate, materials, and health care sectors led the gainers.Technology and energy were the only decliners, down 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Marvell Technology (MRVL), Arm (ARM), and Qualcomm (QCOM) declined by at least 5.7% each, the worst-performing three stocks among companies with market capitalizations exceeding $200 billion, according to data compiled by Finviz.SpaceX (SPCX), which is likely to go public on June 12, Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic, and Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI's upcoming public offerings may drag down broader stock markets, Research Affiliates founder Rob Arnott told Bloomberg News on Friday. Index funds will have to trim their current positions to make room for new entrants.The consumer price index for May is due on Wednesday.The strength in the CPI will largely come from energy, with gasoline up roughly 8% on the month, alongside idiosyncratic pressures, Jefferies said in a note Friday. "Overall, the firm print looks somewhat skewed by energy and one-offs, but still keeps the inflation backdrop sticky in the near term."In precious metals, gold futures dropped 1.8% to $4,283.6, and silver futures slumped 4.6% to $65.44.In energy markets, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 3.1% to $88.50, and Brent crude futures slid 2.7% to $91.72.A deal to end the war in the Middle East could be reached in "two to three days," with the Strait of Hormuz reopening "immediately" after the agreement is signed, President Donald Trump was cited as saying in a CNBC news report late Monday. The two countries are nearing a pact "that will not in any way allow nuclear weapons," Trump reportedly said."Oil gave back most of Monday's gains after Israel and Iran halted hostilities that had threatened to derail already fragile efforts to secure a broader peace agreement in the Middle East," Saxo Bank wrote in a note. "US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, maintained his typically optimistic tone, saying negotiations are in the 'final throes' of what he expects will be a successful deal."Most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down 3.2 basis points to 4.52%. The two-year rate fell 3.8 basis points to 4.12%.Further in economic news, US existing home sales increased to the highest level since December in May, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales rose 3.2% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units last month.The goods and services deficit narrowed $700 million to $55.9 billion in April from March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. The consensus was for a $56.1 billion shortfall in a Bloomberg survey."Soaring oil exports are helping to narrow the US trade gap, with tariffs playing a more minor role in slowing imports," Sal Guatieri, BMO Capital Markets senior economist, said in a note. The export gain was driven by "surging crude sales" while computer hardware and microchips continued to fuel import growth, he said.
Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$AMZN$ARM$MRVL$MSFT$QCOM$SPCX