US markets: S&P 500 and Nasdaq fall as investors focused on Fed policy meeting
Istanbul, July 30 (Hibya) - The S&P 500 fell Tuesday, dragged lower by declines in mega-cap tech stocks, as investors braced for quarterly reports from names in that cohort. Traders also focused on Washington as the Federal Reserve began its latest policy meeting.
The broad market index shed about 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 165 points, or 0.4 percent. Nvidia shares fell more than 5.5 percent, while Microsoft shed 1.5 percent. Other tech giants, such as Amazon, Netflix, and Apple, also declined.
It is a big earnings week for megacap tech names. Microsoft is set to report after the bell Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple are on deck for later this week.
The earnings season has been a solid one thus far. Of the more than 230 S&P 500 names that have reported, about 80 percent have beaten earnings expectations, according to data from FactSet.
Merck shares dropped roughly 10 percent as weaker-than-expected guidance for the full year overshadowed a strong second-quarter report. Procter & Gamble lost roughly 5.6 percent after its quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates due to disappointing demand in China.