US stocks fell on Tuesday, led by a nearly 2% decline in the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC), with the Magnificent 7 behemoths all ending the session in the red.
That included a 3.4% fall in chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which is holding its annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this week.
In a keynote speech on Tuesday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the company's next-generation Blackwell Ultra artificial intelligence (AI) chip.
Nvidia also announced its GB300 superchip, which combines two Blackwell Ultras with the company's Grace central processing unit (CPU).
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said that the "start of its GTC event failed to inspire confidence, even as the company announced a partnership with General Motors (GM) for self-driving cars and declared that the AI space is at an inflection point.
"The shock of the DeepSeek experience is still fresh in the mind, leading to question marks over the group’s expensive chips compared to some competitors."
Data compiled by Bloomberg showed that Wood's flagship Ark Innovation exchange-traded fund sold 12,595 shares of Meta on 17 March, followed by 2,160 shares on Tuesday. Arks funds reportedly held more than 460,000 shares in Meta as of 31 December.
Ark's sales of Meta shares reflect the continued pressure on the Mag 7, amid concerns over the competition from the likes of DeepSeek's lower cost AI model, as well as wider US stock market volatility over fears about a slowdown in economic growth.
Shares in electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla (TSLA) continued to slump on Tuesday, closing the session 5.3% in the red, though the stock was up 3% at the time of writing in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
The stock closed on a share price of $225.31 (£173.81) on Tuesday, more than half the all-time high price of $479.86 it reached in December, on the back of US president Donald Trump's election win.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk faces increasing backlash for his involvement in the Trump administration, heading up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as well as high-profile interventions in politics in Europe.
The latest fall in the shares on Tuesday came after Chinese EV maker BYD (1211.HK) unveiled a new ultra-fast five-minute charging platform, as well as updates from other rivals.
BYD's "super e-platform" will be capable of reaching a peak charging speed of 1,000 kilowatt (kw), which would allow cars to travel 400 kilometres (248 miles) on a five-minute charge.
The 1,000kw charging speed would be twice as fast as the 500kw offered by Tesla's (TSLA) latest version of its superchargers.
Meanwhile, upstart EV maker Xiaomi (1810.HK) announced that it would expand production capacity for its vehicles and Chinese pure-play EV maker XPeng (XPEV) announced strong financial guidance for the first quarter.
Spanish bank Santander (BNC.L) announced plans to close 95 branches in the UK, putting approximately 750 jobs at risk.
This would leave 349 branches in the UK, with Santander saying that the changes to its network would "enable the bank to better serve the changing needs of its customers".
The announcement comes a month after Santander boss Ana Botin denied rumours that the bank was considering quitting the UK.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, she said: "The UK is not for sale. We love the UK and the UK will remain a core market."
Jenny Ross, money editor at Which?, said: "Access to cash remains hugely important for a significant minority who use it to pay for everyday essentials and keep track of their spending so Santander’s decision to close 95 branches — almost a quarter of its UK network — will come as a real blow to many customers.
Shares in Santander were little changed on Wednesday morning, following the announcement.
On the London market, shares in M&G (MNG.L) rose nearly 3% on Wednesday morning, after the investment manager said it was moving to a progressive dividend policy.
In its full-year results, released on Wednesday, M&G said this would start with a 2% increase for the total dividend per share, at 20.1p.
M&G delivered an adjusted operating profit of £837m ($1.08bn) for the year, which was up from £797m in 2023 and was ahead of an expected £769m.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said: "After posting an impressive profit beat, investors might have expected more from the dividend, which only saw a modest 2% increase from the previous year."
"While the company's focus on simplification and streamlining has certainly boosted performance, some underlying challenges remain," he said. "Net flows into the asset management division, particularly in the UK, have struggled for some time and while there are signs of improvement, it’s still an area of weakness."
Other companies in the news on Wednesday 19 March:
