Dow plummets 472 points on inflation fears as tech stocks whipsaw

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

  • Inflation fears drove a choppy trading session in stocks on Tuesday as the Dow Jones plummeted more nearly 500 points.
  • The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 started the day down by more than 2% before it briefly reversed all losses and turned green.
  • Fueling a surge in inflation expectations has been the actual surge in commodities like lumber, oil, and copper.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

Stocks were volatile on Tuesday as fears of rising inflation persisted among investors. The Nasdaq initially fell more than 2% before briefly turning positive, while the Dow Jones fell more than 500 points before paring some losses.

Fueling the surge in inflation expectations has been the actual surge in commodity prices, such as lumber, oil, and copper.

This week's stock market decline hit high-flying tech stocks the most, with shares of Tesla down as much as 13% since the start of the week. Cathie Wood's ARK Invest flagship ETF was also being sold heavily by investors, as it fell 10% since Monday.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Tuesday:

  • S&P 500: 4,152.10, down 0.87%
  • Dow Jones industrial average: 34,270.61, down 1.36% (472.01 points)
  • Nasdaq composite: 13,389.43, down 0.09%

Virgin Galactic, the pre-revenue space tourism company that seeks to launch paying customers into space, fell as much as 21% after its first-quarter earnings report revealed an uncertain flight schedule as it deals with maintenance issues for its spaceship.

Palantir initially fell as much as 9% after its first-quarter earnings report, but went onto reverse those losses and rise by as much as 9%. The company also said it will accept bitcoin as a form of payment and was weighing adding it to its balance sheet.

The price of dogecoin briefly surged as much as 20% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk ran a poll on Twitter to see if the electric vehicle manufacturer should accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Tesla currently accepts bitcoin as payment for its products.

Roblox jumped as much as 18% after it reported mixed earnings results in its first report as a public company. The stock erased all of its losses for the month of May and reached its highest levels since late April.

Novavax extended its two-day decline to as much as 31% after it delayed seeking emergency approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Oil prices were higher. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 0.4%, to $65.35 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped by 0.4%, to $68.60 per barrel.

Gold was flat on Tuesday at $1,837.30 per ounce.

Source: Read Full Article