Stocks finished lower Tuesday as falling tech stocks pulled the market away from recent record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 404 points, or 1.04%, to 38,585, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.02% to 5,078 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.65% to 15,939.
Apple shares ended down 2.84% to $170.12, following a report that suggested iPhone sales in China have slumped more than 24% from last year.
Tesla ended down nearly 4% to $180.47 after reports of a fire near its Berlin gigafactory and ongoing concerns tied to slumping EV demand in China.
Other declining tech stocks included Microsoft, AMD, and Netflix.
Updated at 1:06 PM EST
More hacks?
Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) said its aware of issues affecting users of its gmail app, as well as loading issues on its YouTube video-sharing website, following outages reported at rival Meta Platforms.
The Wall Street Journal reported that White House officials said they were aware of the issues, and their parallel to today's Super Tuesday Presidential primaries, but added they were "not aware of any specific election nexus or any specific malicious cyber activity
Meanwhile, Elon Musk taking his shots at $META 😂 https://t.co/rSYcFURaCy pic.twitter.com/HJh09XwcPu
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) March 5, 2024
Updated at 11:56 PM EST
Deeper red
Stocks are extending declines heading into the mid-day break, with the S&P 500 down 1%, or 52 points, thanks in part to outsized slumps for Tesla and Apple.
The Dow is off 323 points, or 0.83%, while the Nasdaq was last marked 292 points, or 1.8% lower.
Updated at 11:40 AM EST
Meta data
Meta Platforms (META) shares slipped lower Tuesday, falling more than 1.5% to $490.56 each, following reports that both its Facebook and Instagram social media sites are suffering a global service outage.
Downdetector pegged the number of Facebook users affected at around 300,000, with nearly 50,000 disrupted on Instagram. Meta communications director Andy Stone told Reuters the tech giant is aware of user access issues, but did not confirm the estimated impact.
BREAKING: Meta stock, $META, falls as Facebook, Instagram and other Meta services are down.
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 5, 2024
The cause of the outage is still unknown and has been ongoing for over 30 minutes.
Traffic on X is surging as a result.
New all time high in X's active users @elonmusk? pic.twitter.com/g5rpHuPTXf
Updated at 9:52 AM EST
At your service
S&P Global's final reading of services activity in February, the biggest component of U.S. growth, came in higher than the original forecast at 52.3 points, firmly above the 50 point mark that typically signals slowdown or contraction.
Stocks are extending declines nonetheless, with the S&P 500 down 27 points, or 0.53%, and the Nasdaq off 187 points, or 1.16%.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields, however, are also moving lower and were last marked at 4.158%, with 2-year notes slipping to 4.577%.
US S&P Global Services PMI Feb F: 52.3 (est 51.4; prev 51.3)
— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) March 5, 2024
- S&P Global Composite PMI Feb F: 52.5 (est 51.4; prev 51.4)
Updated at 8:57 AM EST
Tesla tumble
Tesla shares are extending their recent declines, and were last marked 3% lower in pre-market trading at $182.60 each, following reports of a fire near its Berlin gigafactory and ongoing concerns tied to slumping EV demand in China.
Related: Goldman analysts weigh in on Tesla slump, highlight key EV election risk
Updated at 8:38 AM EST
Gold Rush
Spot gold prices hit a fresh all-time high Tuesday, rising more than 1% on the session to change hands at $2,136.70 per ounce. Gold's last record peak was $2,135.40 per ounce, which it hit on December 4.
Adapted Gold bulls have been smooth to start the week.
— Capital Hungry (@Capital_Hungry) March 5, 2024
Now we approach last ATHs the same time we have US Services PMI in focus.
Any optimstic PMI data will give us a short lived bearish pullback move to retest lower demand zones.
Updated at 7:12 AM EST
Target-Beating
Target (TGT) shares powered higher in early Tuesday trading after the retailer posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings while forecasting solid near-term profits and hinting at the rollout of a new paid membership program.
Target shares were marked 7.5% higher in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $161.80 each.
Related: Target surges as earnings top forecasts, teases new membership plan
Stock Market Today
The S&P 500 hit an intraday peak yesterday but ended the session modestly lower amid a nudge higher in Treasury yields and a set of big declines for Magnificent 7 peers Apple (AAPL) , Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOG) .
Comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic also rattled markets as he forecast the first rate cut of the year as coming only in the third quarter, well past the current market forecasts of a June reduction.
"Only when I gain that confidence will I feel the time is right to begin lowering the federal funds rate," Bostic said. "The good news is the labor market and economy are prospering, furnishing the [rate-setting committee] the luxury of making policy without the pressure of urgency."
Benchmark 10-year-note yields were last marked at 4.188%, around 2 basis points higher from yesterday's levels, with 2-year notes pegged at 4.583%. The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, was marked 0.04% higher at 103.885 against a basket of its global peers.
Elsewhere, bitcoin came within $150 of a record in overnight trading, topping out at $68,800 each, as the world's largest digital currency continues to benefit from the launch of exchange-traded funds earlier this year.
Bitcoin hit an intraday high of $68,991.85 on November 10th, 2021.
— Bespoke (@bespokeinvest) March 5, 2024
Bitcoin got as high as $68,804.19 overnight, just $187.66 away (~0.25%) from hitting its prior high.
Bank of America's weekly 'Flow Show' report, meanwhile, notes that around $2.4 billion found its way into crypto funds last week, following inflows of $1.2 billion and $2.6 billion over the prior two weeks.
On Wall Street, Tesla shares were back in the red, falling 2.4% after a fire, which police are suspecting as arson, forced the temporary closure of its newly completed gigafactory in Berlin.
Apple shares were also extending declines, falling 1.6% to an early November low of $172.24, following a report that suggested iPhone sales in China have slumped more than 24% from last year.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was another notable mover, falling 2.3% amid reports the chipmaker has failed to win U.S. permission for the sale of some advanced technologies to China.
Heading into the start of the trading day, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a 12 point opening-bell decline ahead of ISM services sector and factory order data later in the session.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, are indicating a 47 point pullback while those linked to the Nasdaq suggest a 95 point decline for the tech-focused benchmark.
In overseas markets, stocks in Europe were mixed, and largely tracking U.S. equity futures, with the Stoxx 600 down 0.2% in Frankfurt and Britain's FTSE 100 rising 0.05%.
Overnight in Asia, China stocks were mixed as well, as Premier Li Qiang unveiled the country's official 2024 economic targets, including a GDP growth rate of 5%, which largely matches last year's tally.
In a nationally televised address from the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, Li vowed to "transform" the world's second-largest economy with what he called "structural adjustments, improving quality, and enhancing performance."
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
