Wall Street indexes end lower as chip, oil stocks drop
Adds preliminary closing details, analyst comment
By Sinéad Carew and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
Oct 15 (Reuters) -Wall Street's major stock indexes closed lower on Tuesday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq leading declines as chip stocks sold off on fears of weak demand while energy shares fell with oil prices.
Earnings reports were a mixed bag with mostly positive reactions to financial services results contrasting with a slump in shares of UnitedHealth UNH.N after the health insurer forecast 2025 profit below Wall Street estimates.
Nasdaq came under particular pressure from market heavyweight Nvidia NVDA.O, the leading chip maker for artificial intelligence. Its shares fell after a record-high close on Monday and a media report that the Biden administration is considering capping AI chip exports by U.S. companies.
Chip stocks lost ground broadly after results of chip-equipment-maker ASML Holdings ASML.AS showed downbeat expectations for 2025 sales. ASML's U.S.-listed shares ASML.O tumbled and dragged down the Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX.
"There seems to be a lot more stress concentrated in chips. This is putting downward pressure on technology as a sector," said Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab.
But while Gordon saw weaker-than-expected earnings as an excuse to sell off chip stocks, he was encouraged that there were roughly as many stocks advancing as declining on the Nasdaq.
"It's not a broad-based washout," he said, noting that stocks that were selling off on the day had previously outperformed. "It's indicative of megacap stocks pulling down the indexes."
The energy industry index .SPNY was under pressure as crude prices fell on weaker demand expectations after a media report suggested Israel would not strike Iranian oil targets.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 41.98 points, or 0.72%, to end at 5,817.87 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 180.26 points, or 0.97%, to 18,322.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 320.46 points, or 0.77%, to 42,733.92.
Both the Dow and the S&P 500 registered record closing highs in the previous session.
In the financial sector, Bank of America BAC.N shares rose following a third-quarter profit beat, while Charles Schwab SCHW.N shares climbed after beating estimates. However, Citigroup C.N shares fell after its results.
Bucking the trend of tech stock declines, Apple AAPL.O advanced, earlier touching a record high.
Also in individual stocks, Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA.O rallied sharply after narrowly beating Wall Street's lowered estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit and announcing plans to shut 1,200 stores to cut costs.
Investors will watch in coming days for the next batch of earnings as well as key economic data, including monthly retail sales and industrial production figures.
Earlier on Tuesday, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said that even after September's interest-rate cut, policymakers were still working to bring down inflationary pressures.
Traders are pricing in a roughly 98% chance the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November, according to CME's FedWatch.
Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Matthew Lewis
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