Dow falls nearly 300 points on sell-off led by Apple

With Apple as well as other big names in the tech industry retreating, US stocks dipped on Tuesday, headed for another down session. The average number of equities that traded in the red was almost two thirds. Conversely, the only two companies able to defy the general trend were 3M and Walmart, each of which increased by more than 1%.

With technology firms bearing the brunt of the market’s decline, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%. Gaining 260 points, or 0.7%, was the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Dropping 0.9% was the S&P 500.

Apple slipped almost 3% on the back of a report from Counterpoint Research that found iPhone sales plunged in China in the first six weeks of 2024. Several other mega-cap technology stocks including Tesla, Netflix and Microsoft shed more than 2%. The S&P 500′s information technology sector led the broad index down with a drop of more than 2%.

AMD fell more than 1% after Bloomberg News reported the chipmaker hit a regulatory snag that will prevent it from selling an artificial intelligence chip to China. GitLab tumbled more than 19% after the software company posted a weak forecast for the full year.

Beyond technology, Target jumped more than 11% after holiday-quarter earnings came in stronger than Wall Street forecasted. AeroVironment rallied more than 29% following a better-than-anticipated quarterly report and outlook from the defense company.

Tuesday’s moves come as investors digests the market’s recent rally to all-time highs, which has been powered by optimism around artificial intelligence. Despite the intraday losses, the three major averages are solidly higher year to date.

Bitcoin was the latest asset to hit a record, notching an all-time high on Tuesday. However, the digital currency quickly moved into the red after breaking the high for the first time in two years.

The blue-chip average fell 0.7%, a relatively muted drop compared with the other two major averages. A chunk of that downward pressure was tied to the tough session for tech stocks.

Intel led the 30-stock index down with a drop of more than 4%. Salesforce slipped more than 3%, while Apple and Microsoft lost more than 2% each. Amazon was the fifth worst performer, lower by more than 1.5%.