US stocks close mostly in red, led by decline in tech stocks

ISTANBUL 

US stocks closed mostly with losses Tuesday, dragged down by declines in big tech shares.

The Nasdaq fell 1.46%, or 314.82 points, to 21,314.95, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.59%, or 37.78 points, to 6,411.37.

On the other hand, the Dow inched up 0.02%, or 10.45 points, to close at 44,922.27.

The VIX Index, also known as the “fear index,” rose 3.87% to 15.57.

Shares of chipmakers and tech companies fell on Tuesday’s close. Nvidia’s stock fell 3.5%, while AMD and Broadcom dropped by almost 5.5% and 3.6%, respectively.

Palantir dipped 9.5%, Netflix declined around 2.5%, Tesla was off 1.75% and Meta fell more than 2%.

On the other hand, shares of Intel rose almost 7% after SoftBank said it signed a $2 billion investment agreement with the chip maker.

Home Depot’s shares gained 3.2% as it maintained its full-year sales forecast even though its revenue and profit fell slightly short of market expectations in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that it expanded the scope of its 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to include 407 new product categories.

Products that include or are contained in steel or aluminum, such as fire extinguishers, machinery, building supplies, and specialized chemicals, are now included on the tariff list.

Separately, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated Tuesday that he will start interviewing the potential candidates to be the next Federal Reserve chair right after Sept. 1.

Bessent also confirmed to CNBC that the potential candidates comprise 11 names, a group that includes current and past Fed officials, economists, a White House advisor, and Wall Street experts.

On the data side, the number of new housing units in the US rose 5.2% on a monthly basis in July to 1.43 million, exceeding expectations.

On the monetary policy front, while pricing continues for a 25 basis point interest rate cut by the Fed next month, the minutes of the Fed’s meeting to be published tomorrow and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday will determine the direction of the markets.

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