U.S. stocks were under pressure early Tuesday after a late rally in the previous session helped the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite snap a four-day losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 ticked down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.2%.
Bond yields were mixed Tuesday, with shorter dated Treasurys up but rates rising for those at the longer end of the curve. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note hovered just under 1.8%.
Early gainers included Illumina, which rose 7% after the genomic sequencing company issued a 2022 revenue outlook that was ahead of consensus. Energy shares also were higher as the price of U.S. crude rose 1.5%, sending Marathon Oil up 1%. Juniper Networks rose 3.4% after Bank of America upgraded the stock.
In regular trading on Monday, the Nasdaq turned slightly green into the close after a day of continued declines from the previous week’s sell-off, sparked by a rise in bond yields and worries about upcoming actions by the Federal Reserve. It closed 0.05% higher and erased a 2.7% loss. Meanwhile, the Dow after being down more than 500 points ultimately lost 162 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 slid 0.1%.
Large tech stocks were mixed in early trading, with chipmaker Nvidia and Alphabet falling more than 1% while Amazon rose nearly 1%.
On Monday, JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic said markets can withstand higher yields, as well as omicron, and that investors should buy the dip in the tech stocks.
“The pullback in risk assets in reaction to the Fed minutes is arguably overdone,” he said in a note. “Policy tightening is likely to be gradual and at a pace that risk assets should be able to handle, and is occurring in an environment of strong cyclical recovery.”
Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, said that while the stock market is likely to encounter a correction this year – and last week’s action could perhaps have been the start of one – it will be met by strong company fundamentals.
“Historically, the stock market has suffered some nasty ‘temper tantrums,’ and numerous rate hikes eventually led to recessionary bear markets,” Paulsen said in a note Monday evening. “However, the current focus among investors may be misplaced. The stock market’s response may have less to do with the timing and number of rate hikes than it does with the ‘direction’ of real earnings.”
On the Federal Reserve front, Chair Jerome Powell will testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday as part of his re-confirmation process. Investors will be looking for insight into the Fed’s current views on inflation and the speed of policy tightening.
“We can begin to see that the post-pandemic economy is likely to be different in some respects. The pursuit of our goals will need to take these differences into account. To that end, monetary policy must take a broad and forward-looking view, keeping pace with an ever-evolving economy,” Powell said in prepared remarks.
Earnings season will be in full swing by the end of this week with the big banks set to report starting Friday. Grocery chain Albertson’s reported results that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines on Tuesday morning.
