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The Nasdaq Composite index fell almost 1.4% on Tuesday after February consumer confidence missed expectations, coming in at 98.3 compared with the consensus of 103.0, and down from 105.3 in January — the worst decline since August. U.S. government debt rallied and the dollar weakened.
The Nasdaq fell about 260 points. The S&P 500 dropped about 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained by about 160 points .
Money markets are now fully pricing a more than two quarter-point interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, Bloomberg News reports, even after 12-month average inflation expectations surged to 6% from 5.2%, partly driven by concern about tariffs.
The Magnificent 7 shares declined more than 2% as a group. Nvidia (NVDA) and Super Micro (SMCI) shares fell in New York trading on a report — following declines in Japanese chipmakers including Tokyo Electron in Tokyo — that the U.S. is seeking tighter chip restrictions on China.
Strategy, formerly called MicroStrategy (MSTR), plunged 11%, following Bitcoin, which has fallen below $88,000, with other cryptocurrencies pacing the decline. The company, led by Michael Saylor, owns about 471,100 Bitcoin, making it the largest publicly traded holder of the token.
Chegg (CHGG) stock fell 33% after the online learning platform filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Google. Chegg claims that AI-generated summaries of search results have negatively affected its traffic and revenue.
Home Depot (HD) rose 2.8% after sales in the quarter through Feb. 2 just topped Wall Street expectations. The home improvement retailer projected a 1% increase in comparable sales this fiscal year. Bloomberg reported that the average analyst estimate was for a 1.65% increase.
Hims & Hers (HIMS) stock dove 22% even after the millennial-focused telehealth company reported soaring sales for 2024 last night.