U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday to kick off a historically tough month for markets, as technology shares were boosted by artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (NVDA) and chips. Meanwhile, attention was focused on a week of data on the economy and labor market, highlighted by a crucial monthly employment report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 1%, or more than 400 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 2.4%.
Stocks are retreating from near-record highs as Wall Street hunkers down after a rocky August, with the prospect of a potentially stormy September ahead. Investors are weighing the risk of surprises in data or the presidential election in a typically dreadful month for traders.
Early trading on Tuesday didn’t exactly offer a rosy picture. Nvidia (NVDA) fell more than 7% on Tuesday as investors continued to retreat following a lackluster earnings report and lingering questions about the future of AI trading. Other chip stocks fell in tandem, with Broadcom (AVGO), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) all down more than 5%.
Also of utmost importance is the August jobs report, due out on Friday, which could influence how deeply the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates at its meeting later this month. With inflation cooling, policymakers are on alert as they wait for the labor market to settle.
For investors, the focus is on whether signs of a slowdown in the July jobs report were overblown or an early warning of a broader slowdown. Any hint of stress should put pressure on the Fed to cut rates further. As of Tuesday, traders were pricing in a 31% chance of a 50-basis-point cut rather than a 25-basis-point cut, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
According to new figures from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the US manufacturing index rose last month, but reflected a slowdown in factory activity, with a reading below a threshold suggesting a contraction in the manufacturing sector.
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