S&P 500 Retreats As Tech Stocks Decline

Meta Strays to Lows

Despite widespread pressure in the IT sector, the S&P 500 steadied close to the 3870 mark. The heavily tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped approaching the 11000 mark. Meta, which dropped 6% in today's trading session, took the lead in the sell-off.

The primary deterrent for today's decline in Meta shares was the significant Instagram outage. The most recent earnings report seems to have disappointed investors even more. Earnings projections are declining quickly, which is bad news for Meta stock. Other notable tech companies' stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon, fell by 2% or more today.

As traders remained uneasy ahead of the Fed Interest Rate Decision, which will be revealed on Wednesday, the yield on 10-year Treasuries increased today, moving closer to the 4.10% mark. Stocks are under further pressure due to rising Treasury rates and a stronger currency.

Interestingly, energy companies were able to advance today despite the decline in oil prices and Vice President Biden's proposals to impose a windfall tax on energy firms.

Following the release of its quarterly report, NXP Semiconductors saw a 2% decline. The firm exceeded analyst expectations for both profits and sales, reporting revenue of $3.45 billion and GAAP earnings of $2.79 per share. The worsening macro environment in its IoT sector, according to NXP Semiconductors, had an effect on its performance.

Traders also choose to stay cautious, and the stock found itself under pressure in the post-market session. The business noted that it remained cautious in the intermediate term owing to the "uncertainties in the macro environment."

It should be emphasized that the current decline in semiconductor stock prices is mostly attributable to the escalating US-China tensions, which might harm the global semiconductor market. It will be interesting to observe whether things get better in the following months.