WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, more than offsetting the modest strength seen in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the pullback.
Currently, the major averages are just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq is down 408.87 points or 1.6 percent at 25,865.26, the S&P 500 is down 66.35 points or 0.9 percent at 7,346.49 and the Dow is down 269.02 points or 0.5 percent at 49,435.45.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are pulling back off yesterday's record closing highs amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil.
After jumping by 2.8 percent during Monday's session. U.S. crude oil futures are spiking by nearly 4 percent and are once again back above $100 a barrel.
The continued increase by the price of crude oil comes as the U.S. and Iran struggle to reach an agreement to end the war and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is on 'life support' amid the ongoing dispute, describing the state of the truce 'unbelievably weak.'
The weakness on Wall Street also comes following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing the fastest annual rate of consumer price growth since May 2023.
The report said the annual rate of growth by consumer prices accelerated to 3.8 percent in April from 3.3 percent in March, reflecting sharply higher energy prices.
'Given that inflation is heading in the wrong direction and the labor market is holding up, it's very unlikely that the Fed will be able to lower interest rates any time soon and it's possible that we may start pricing in rate hikes for next year,' said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Northlight Asset Management.
He added, 'We don't believe the market needs rate cuts to keep climbing, but earnings will need to keep doing a lot of the heavy lifting as multiple expansion isn't in the cards right now.'
Sector News
Computer hardware and semiconductor stocks have moved sharply lower on the day, contributing to the slump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Reflecting the weakness in the sectors, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index are both down by 5.3 percent.
Substantial weakness is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 3.7 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness in the sector comes amid a notable decrease by the price of gold.
Steel, networking and airline stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotechnology stocks are showing strong moves to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Thursday. South Korea's Kospi tumbled by 2.3 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.3 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and rose by 0.5 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower in reaction to the inflation data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.5 basis points at 4.455 percent.
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