Stocks have moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. Weakness in the tech sector is weighing on the markets, resulting in a slump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Currently, the Nasdaq is off its worst levels of the day but still down 193.01 points or 1.1 percent at 18,078.84. The S&P 500 is also down 17.30 points or 0.3 percent at 5,759.35, while the narrower Dow has bucked the downtrend and climbed 195.97 points or 0.5 percent to 42,783.47.
The sharp pullback by the Nasdaq comes as big-name tech stocks are under pressure, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) plunged by 4.4 percent.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) have also tumbled by 3.5 percent, while shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) are down by more than 1 percent.
The weakness in the tech sector may partly reflect ongoing uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
Trump said during an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday that new tariffs would “probably be more lenient than reciprocal,” because reciprocal tariffs would be “very tough for people.”
However, while Trump also said there would be exceptions to the tariffs, he noted there would be “not too many exceptions.”
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.9 percent in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.3 in January.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent compared to the previously reported 3.2 percent surge.
Excluding a jump by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 0.7 percent in February after inching up by 0.1 percent in January. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks have shown a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.2 percent.
Computer hardware and software stocks are also seeing notable weakness, contributing to the slump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
On the other hand, oil producer stocks are turning in a strong performance amid a jump by the price of crude oil, driving the NYSE Arca Oil Index up by 1.6 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving higher over the course of the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.6 basis points at 4.344 percent.
Business News
Tech Sector Weakness Weighing On Wall Street
2025-03-26 15:11:18
