Stocks drop ahead of tech earnings.
A global tech stock sell-off helped push stocks back from record highs on Tuesday, as investors waited for more positive news from a string of earnings reports due from American tech giants after the close of trading.
The S&P 500 was fell 0.5 percent.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Tuesday that people vaccinated for the coronavirus resume wearing masks indoors in certain parts of the country, reversing a decision made just two months ago.
Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft will provide updates on their financial performance on Tuesday. The reports come during a time of growing scrutiny of Big Tech with President Biden signing an executive order earlier this month intended to increase competition within the nation’s economy and to limit corporate dominance. Alphabet fell 1.6 percent and Apple fell 1.5 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 1.2 percent.
The tensions between governments and technology are increasingly global. Chinese stocks plunged again on Tuesday, as a crackdown by the authoritarian state continued on its homegrown tech titans.
The Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent tumbled 9 percent after it closed its WeChat app to new users to “align with all relevant laws and regulations.” The delivery service Meituan tumbled 18 percent after the government published new regulations requiring such services to pay at least minimum wage. Alibaba fell more than 6 percent in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged more than 4 percent. And the CSI 300 index of stocks listed on mainland indexes dropped more than 3.5 percent. The Hang Seng has lost more than 14 percent over the last month.
The Federal Reserve is also holding a two-day meeting starting on Tuesday during which policymakers are expected to start discussing if and when to start winding down the central bank’s emergency bond-buying measures.
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