US Markets Close Lower As Tech, Telecom Stocks Retreat

US stock markets retreated for the second day on Tuesday despite some advances made by technology stocks to hold off the slide as inflation woes continued to weigh on investors' mind.

The S&P 500 was down 0.85% to 4,127.83. The Dow Jones shed 0.78% to 34,060.66. The NASDAQ Composite Index ticked down 0.56% to 13,303.64, and the small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 0.73% to 2,210.88.

Although markets appeared optimistic about the overall recovery of the US economy, investors seemed to tread cautiously amid weak housing data and inflation concerns. Still, the exchange managed to trim some losses to close the session on a relatively flat note.

Telecom stocks saw a sharp decline, while real estate, healthcare shares saw muted gains. Technology shares, which had made some gains during the session, pulled back at the close. Blue-chip stocks have been withdrawing over the past few sessions even as the economy looked ready to leave the covid slump. 

In the corporate world, IBM (NYSE:IBM) has announced to acquire the European consulting partner of Salesforce as it eyes a major expansion in the continent, mainly for its cloud and AI services. The company has not disclosed the deal amount for Brussels-based Waeg.

In another major deal, Virginia-headquartered Performance Food Group (PFGC) to acquire Core-Mark Holding Company (CORE). The transaction is expected to be completed by next year. Both the stocks fell in the early trading session following the announcements.

Walmart's (WMT) revenues were up 2.7% YoY to US$138.3 billion in Q1. On Tuesday, the retailer said that its global e-commerce sales surged 49% during the period. Walmart stock was up 3.38% at 9.21 am ET after its solid earnings report.

Home Depot's sales were up 32.7% to US$37.5 billion in the first quarter. It reported revenues of US$4.15 billion, or US$3.86 per share, during the period. Its revenues were US$28.26 billion in the same period last year.

The stock of telecom giant AT&T fell nearly 6% after it announced that there might be a reduction in the payout ratio due to the deal with Discovery Inc. The company had revealed plans on Monday to merge its media assets with Discovery in a US$43 billion pact.

Other telecom stocks, such as T-mobile was down 2.6%, and Verizon Communications declined 1.6%. The energy segment on S&P 500 dropped 1.6% in Tuesday's session amid a fall in oil prices. Macy's gained around 1% after the store operator projected a rise in its annual sales and earnings.

Stocks of consumer non-cyclicals, consumer cyclicals, technology, basic materials, industrials, financials, and energy pulled back while real estate, healthcare, and utilities made some advances.

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Also Read: Walmart’s Revenue Up 2.7% On Pent-Up Demand, E-Commerce Boost

Top Gainers

Top performers on S&P 500 included CVS Health Corp (4.79%), ViacomCBS Inc (4.56%), Enphase Energy Inc (3.45%), and Live Nation Entertainment Inc (3.04%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Onconova Therapeutics Inc (75.04%), Predictive Oncology Inc (26.03%), Ultralife Corp (23.38%), and Obalon Therapeutics Inc (22.03%). On Dow Jones, Walmart Inc (2.17%), UnitedHealth Group Inc (0.43%), Mcdonald's Corp (0.11%), and Johnson & Johnson (0.04%) were the leaders.

Top Losers

Top laggards on S&P 500 included AT&T Inc (-5.80%), Molson Coors Beverage Co (-4.23%), Western Digital Corp (-4.20%), and Gap Inc (-3.72%). On NASDAQ, Evofem Biosciences Inc (-34.17%), Seelos Therapeutics Inc (-18.83%), Digital Brands Group Inc (-16.79%), and TOMI Environmental Solutions Inc (-16.44%) were the losers. On Dow Jones, Chevron Corp (-3.01%), Caterpillar Inc (-2.17%), Dow Inc (-1.95%), Travelers Companies Inc (-1.85%) were the laggards.

Volume Movers

Top volume movers were AT&T Inc (42.39M), Apple Inc (14.40M), Ford Motor Co (12.88M), General Electric Co (9.32M), Bank of America Corp (7.99M), Comcast Corp (7.71M), Marathon Oil Corp (7.64M), Onconova Therapeutics Inc (29.90M), Evofem Biosciences Inc (19.16M), Sundial Growers Inc (13.96M), Agenus Inc (8.62M), and Plug Power Inc (8.49M).              

Also Read: The Domino Effect: How Chia is Boosting the Demand for Hard Drives

Futures & Commodities

Gold futures were up 0.11% to US$1,869.70 per ounce. Silver increased 0.07% to US$28.295 per ounce, while copper was down 0.10% to US$4.7070.

Brent oil futures rose 0.04% to US$68.47 per barrel and WTI crude was down 1.46% to US$65.31.

Bond Market

The 30-year Treasury bond yields were up 0.29% to 2.362, while the 10-year bond yields remained flat at 1.640.

US Dollar Futures Index was down 0.40% to US$89.780.