The Dow Jones Industrial Average's hold on slender early gains vanished by Tuesday's close. Other major indexes lagged with steeper losses on the stock market today.
Dow stocks were 0.2% lower at the closing bell. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% on Tuesday while tech stocks sold off and sent the Nasdaq tumbling 0.9%. In the S&P 500, technology and consumer discretionary sectors were the worst performers while the defensive consumer staples sector fared well.
Volume was higher on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, according to preliminary data. Participation also reflected weakness as decliners slightly beat advancers on the NYSE and by nearly 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
Small caps on the Russell 2000 index also slid Tuesday, losing 1.4%. The Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund suffered a worse fate as it plunged nearly 3%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 2 basis points to 4.27%.
Investors are looking ahead to the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, hoping to get clues on rate cuts this year. The minutes are due Wednesday.
Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Components
Retail earnings moved Dow Jones leaders Home Depot and Walmart. Home Depot's sales and earnings came in above views, but a low-key outlook for the current quarter weighed on shares early Tuesday. However, the stock reversed higher and ended almost unchanged.
Walmart beat Wall Street estimates and also reported higher sales and earnings than it forecast. The retail behemoth announced plans to buy television maker Vizio for $2.3 billion. Walmart stock gapped up and is now extended from a handle entry at 163.57. Shares are at an all-time high.
Among tech leaders on the Dow, Intel rose more than 2%. The chip bellwether is the beneficiary of a government subsidy of more than $10 billion under the federal government's CHIPS and Science Act, designed to bolster U.S. chipmakers. But Intel stock has yet to clear its 50-day moving average.
Nvidia To Report Wednesday
Nvidia trimmed its losses to close 4.4% lower in the stock market today ahead of its earnings report after the close Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet expect Nvidia to earn an adjusted $4.59 a share, up 422% year over year, on sales of $20.37 billion, or 237% growth from the prior year. When Nvidia reported third-quarter earnings on Nov. 21, shares fell despite the fact it beat analyst views on blockbuster results.
Shares lost roughly $78 billion in market cap — the steepest one-day market-cap loss ever for the artificial intelligence leader.
In deal news, credit card company Capital One Financial is buying Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion. Capital One shares fell but managed to find support at the 50-day line. COF stock closed up 0.1%. Discover added to early gains and rose 13% after the deal suggested a hefty premium to the stock's Friday's closing price.
Discover offers its own payment network. It rivals payment leaders and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard. Mastercard and Visa stocks fell in Tuesday trading.
Super Micro Computer also pared losses and closed 2% lower on the stock market today, as it continued to see heavy losses for the second straight day. In the IBD 50 growth list, GigaCloud Technology cratered nearly 25%.
Bucking the larger indexes, property and casualty insurance provider Skyward Specialty achieved a breakout from a cup without handle's buy point of 34.53. Shares pulled back to the buy point at the closing bell. Fourth-quarter results are due at the market close.
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