Volatile Tech Stocks Drive Wall Street Indexes Lower, U.S. Trade Deficit Widened In July

Barry Adams
04 Sep, 2024
New York City

U.S. stocks opened lower and extended losses of the previous session, as tech stocks continue to decline. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4% as investors worried about the possible economic slowdown. 

Wall Street indexes are posting the worst losses since the steep market loss on August 5 as chip stocks continue to underperform. 

Nvidia dropped as much as 2% after a Bloomberg report noted that the U.S. Justice Department served subpoenas to the company amid a widening investigation of its antitrust practices. 

AMD, Qualcomm, Micron Tech, and other chipmakers were down following the decline in Nvidia. 

Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple declined between 0.5% and 1.4%. 

Investors are preparing for more volatile days ahead in September, historically a weak month for stocks, and investors are awaiting the release of nonfarm payroll data on Friday. 

The U.S. trade deficit in July widened to $78.8 billion, and exports rose at a faster pace than imports, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday. 

Exports increased 0.5% to $266.6 billion, and imports advanced 2.1% to $345.4 billion, widening the deficit to $78.8 billion. 

Higher imports of computer accessories, transport services, and charges for use of intellectual property contributed to the increase in imports. 

The deficit with China increased $4.9 billion to $27.2 billion after exports declined $1.0 billion to $11.5 billion and imports rose $3.9 billion to $38.7 billion. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1% to 5,523.07, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to 17,067.71, and the Russell 2000 index fell 3.1% to 2,144.59. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.87%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 3.84%, and 30-year Treasury bonds inched lower to 4.13%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.35 to $69.98 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged up 4 cents to $2.14 a thermal unit.

Gold rose by $5.96 to $2,487.96 an ounce, and silver decreased by $0.01 to $28.10.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher to 101.62.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Nvidia Corp. declined 1.0% to $106.91, AMD rose 2.5% to $140.48, Qualcomm added 1.2% to $165.28, and Micron Technology gained 0.5% to $89.07. 

Microsoft fell 0.6% to $407.07, Meta Platforms decreased 0.3% to $510.47, and Amazon.com Inc. declined 1% to $174.39. 

Dollar Tree plunged 19% to $66.20, and the deep discount retailer reported weaker-than-expected second quarter results and the retailer lowered its full-year outlook. 

The company guided its full-year adjusted earnings per share to range between $5.20 and $5.60 from the previous estimate between $6.50 and $7.0. 

Dick's Sporting Goods dropped 8.6% to $212.16, despite the sporting goods retailer reporting better-than-expected second quarter results and raising its full-year earnings estimate. 

The specialty retailer revised its full-year earnings per share to between $13.55 and $13.90 from the previous estimate between $13.35 and $13.75.