S&P 500 falls on tech drag as yields rise as bank worries ease, consumers upbeat By Investing.com

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 index slid on Tuesday as big tech companies continued to slide as Treasury yields rose on signs that consumers remained upbeat and worried about the crisis. banks decrease.

Down 0.4%, down 0.3%, or 82 points and down 0.80%.

Treasurys added to their gains from a day earlier as data showed consumers remained upbeat about the economy, suggesting the Federal Reserve may have more work to do.

The number rose to 104.2 in March from an upwardly revised 103.4 in February, beating economists’ forecasts of 101.0.

“Confidence data suggest that the Fed needs to continue to push forward with the hawkish policy guidance it has delivered over the past few months,” Jefferies said in a note.

The rising interest rate environment continues to weigh on tech stocks, with big tech companies leading the way.

Apple (NASDAQ:), Meta Platform (NASDAQ:), Alphabet (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) are less than 1%, with close scrutiny by the regulator.

Germany’s antitrust watchdog said on Tuesday that it was probing Microsoft to determine whether the market power of the tech giant may warrant an investigation into potentially anticompetitive practices.

The semiconductor slump also hit broader technology ahead of chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) results after the market close.

Micron’s quarterly results are expected to reflect lower memory demand amid weaker PC and cloud platforms, while rising inventories remain a drag.

Energy, however, gained more than 1% to partially offset broader market losses, with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:) lead to an uptrend.

Warren Buffet increased his stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation to 23.6% after buying 3.7 million shares of the major oil company over the past three days, a regulatory filing shows.

In other news, LYFT (NASDAQ:) reversed gains after David Risher, who has been named the new chief executive and will take the helm on April 1, ruled out a sale of the company. . Riser said that Lyft not for sale and will focus on the ride sharing business.

The appointment move, which was briefly welcomed by the market, still leaves some questions as to whether the ride-sharing company can offset bigger rival Uber (NYSE:NYSE).

“[W]I anticipate that he will take a fresh look at Lyft’s strategic direction, cost structure, and go-to-market strategy, but it’s not yet clear if the new management will be enough to counter some of the long-term advantages. durability that Uber has in its ride-sharing service in the United States,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.