Asian stocks down after Big Tech pulls S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower
HONG KONG — Asian shares fell on Tuesday after a mixed close on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing to a record high as Big Tech companies led the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite lower.
US futures fell. Oil prices fell from recent highs, which were caused by heavy fire between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday.
China’s industrial profits rose 4.1% year-on-year in July, with total profits for the first seven months rising 3.6%, giving the market hope despite weak domestic demand, a housing recession and concerns about employment.
But additional tariffs on China are clouding the outlook for manufacturing. Canada on Monday announced a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicle imports and a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum, with the measures set to go into effect on Oct. 1. This applies to all electric vehicles shipped from China, many of which are Tesla cars produced in the country.
Shares of the U.S.-listed automaker fell 3.2% on Monday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.2% to 17,760.40 and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3% to 2,846.19.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to 38,055.62 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 8,077.50. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4% to 2,687.43.
The S&The P 500 fell 0.3% on Monday, remaining within 0.9% of its July record high. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9%, dragged down by several technology companies that often influence the market because of their large values. Nvidia fell 2.2%, Microsoft fell 0.8%, Amazon fell 0.9%, Meta Platforms fell 1.3% and Tesla lost 3.2%.
The Dow rose 0.2% to 41,240, surpassing its previous high set in mid-July. The average is less affected by Big Tech, with only Apple and Microsoft as the most valuable “Magnificent Seven” stocks in the index. That helped limit the impact of Big Tech decliners.
Bond yields remained relatively stable, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury rising to 3.82% from 3.80% late Friday.
The stock market is coming off a run of two successful weeks that the S&P 500, Dow Close to New Highs Monday’s mixed market close came at the start of a week that included another full slate of corporate earnings and the latest government inflation figures.
A surprisingly strong report showed that orders for long-life goods from U.S. factories, including autos, rose 9.9 percent in July. An update on consumer confidence is scheduled for Tuesday, and the U.S. is due to give a revised estimate for second-quarter economic growth on Thursday.
Semiconductor company Nvidia reports its latest financial results on Wednesday, having benefited greatly from Wall Street’s mania for artificial intelligencebecame one of the largest listed companies in the world most large companieswith a total value of more than $3 trillion. Shares are up more than 155% this year.
Shares of other chipmakers also fell. Broadcom lost 4.1%, Advanced Micro Devices fell 3.2% and Lam Research fell 3.4%.
All in all, the S&The P 500 fell 17.77 points to 5,616.84. The Dow rose 65.44 points to 41,240.52 and the Nasdaq fell 152.03 points to close at 17,725.76.
Other companies reporting quarterly results this week include Kohl’s, Chewy, Salesforce and Dollar General.
The most important report for investors this week comes on Friday, when the government releases its latest data on inflation, the PCE, or personal consumption and expenditures report, for July. It’s the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude fell 30 cents to $77.12 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 25 cents to $80.11 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 144.91 Japanese yen from 144.52 yen. The euro was worth $1.1166, up from $1.1161.