Nasdaq ends higher on tech strength; Dow pulls back
Nasdaq rallied 1.3% on Tuesday, buoyed by strength in Nvidia and other tech megacaps, while the Dow slipped as retailers weighed and investors waited for crucial inflation data due out this week.
AI chip firm Nvidia climbed 6.8%, bouncing back after a three-session sell-off, and the broader chip sector outperformed with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index adding 1.8%.
Chips were among the biggest boosts for the S&P 500 technology index's recovery from a three-day slide while companies such as Alphabet, up 2.7%, and Meta Platforms, rising 2.3%, were the biggest boosts to the communication services index.
The rest of the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors were much weaker by comparison on Tuesday in contrast with the prior day's session when previously lagging sectors such as energy and utilities were the biggest gainers.
«Seeing the tech stocks perking up has been a key driver» for Tuesday's market, said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. She added that after a few days of weakness, «investors that have scooped up some of those names today were looking for a better entry point.»
Potentially adding to the bias for megacaps was the Conference Board's survey, which showed U.S. consumer confidence easing slightly in June amid worries about the economic outlook. Its consumer confidence index fell to 100.4 from a downwardly revised 101.3 in May.
«In an environment where economic growth is potentially decelerating, which we're seeing signs of, that would tend to
