U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday continuing a vicious April selloff after a one-day breather as investors dumped shares on fears of an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrials crumbled 545.01 points, or 1.6%, to 33,504.45.
The S&P 500 flopped 84.2 points, or 1.9%, to 4,211.92.
The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 398.53 points, or 3.1%, to 12,686.33.
Tech stocks led the decline as investors did not wait around for Microsoft and Alphabet first-quarter results after the bell Tuesday, fearing more blow-ups like the one seen in Netflix earlier in the earnings season.
For April, the S&P 500 is off by more than 6%, the NASDAQ is down about 11% and the Dow is down roughly 3%. The NASDAQ neared its low for the year set in March.
Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet both lost more than 2%. Facebook parent Meta, Amazon and Apple were also lower Tuesday, with earnings results slated for later this week.
Netflix shares fell to a new multi-year low, dropping 5%. Last week Netflix plunged 35% in a single day after reporting a surprising subscriber loss for the first quarter.
Tesla, which has a factory in Shanghai and counts China as a major market for its electric vehicles, was the biggest laggard on the NASDAQ, down 9%. The shares also came under pressure as its CEO and founder, Elon Musk, looked to close his proposed deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
Chip stocks were among the top decliners on the tech-heavy NASDAQ. Nvidia fell about 5% and AMD retreated more than 4%.
Cyclical names tied to economic growth also suffered Tuesday. Dow component 3M fell about 2% despite better-than-expected earnings as the company noted macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges ahead. UPS shares also fell 3% despite the shipper’s quarterly earnings and revenue topping expectations.
Other industrial names like General Electric and Boeing were lower in early morning trading Tuesday. GE fell more than 10%, while Boeing eased 2.8%. GE warned that its 2022 outlook was “trending toward the low end of the range.”
Bank stocks also struggled as interest rates fell. Wells Fargo and Bank of America both lost more than 1%.
Treasury prices picked up new ground, lowering yields up to 2.75% from Monday’s 2.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $1.80 at $100.34 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $6.50 to $1,902.50 U.S. an ounce.