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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes fell sharply Tuesday after February consumer confidence missed expectations, coming in at 98.3 compared with the consensus of 103.0, and down from 105.3 in January. It was the worst decline since August. U.S. government debt rallied and the dollar weakened.
The Nasdaq fell about 357 points, or 1.85%. The S&P 500 dropped 1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off slightly, about 0.1%.
Money markets are now fully pricing a bit more than two quarter-point interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, Bloomberg News reports, even after 12-month average inflation expectations surged to 6% from 5.2%, partly driven by concern about tariffs.
CNBC’s (CMCSA-1.02%) Magnificent 7 index weakened Tuesday, taking its decline so far this year to almost 10%. Nvidia (NVDA-1.76%) and Super Micro (SMCI-9.40%) shares fell in New York trading on a report — following declines in Japanese chipmakers including Tokyo Electron in Tokyo — that the U.S. is seeking tighter chip restrictions on China.
Strategy, formerly called MicroStrategy (MSTR-12.16%), declined by about 7%, following Bitcoin, which has fallen below $90,000, with other cryptocurrencies pacing the decline. The company, led by Michael Saylor, owns about 471,100 Bitcoin, making it the largest publicly traded holder of the token.
Chegg (CHGG-30.13%) stock fell 30% after the online learning platform filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Google. Chegg claims that AI-generated summaries of search results have negatively affected its traffic and revenue. In the morning, shares traded as low as $1.07, a new 52-week low.
Home Depot (HD+3.23%) stock edged higher after sales in the quarter through Feb. 2 just topped Wall Street expectations. The home improvement retailer projected a 1% increase in comparable sales this fiscal year. Bloomberg reported that the average analyst estimate was for a 1.65% increase.
Hims & Hers (HIMS-22.23%) stock took a steep dive even after the millennial-focused telehealth company reported soaring sales for 2024 last night.