The S&P 500 lost 17.17 points, or 0.29%, to end at 5,984.18 points, while the Nasdaq lost 16.00 points, or 0.08%, to 19,282.76. The Dow fell 377.45 points, or 0.85%, to 43,915.68.
NEW YORK: Major Wall Street indices closed lower on Tuesday as investors booked some profits from a post-election rally and turned cautious ahead of US economic data due this week.
The three major indexes had rallied to record highs since the Nov. 5 US election as investors bet on a boost to equities from President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tax cuts and the prospect of easier regulatory policies.
But investor enthusiasm was dampened on Tuesday. European shares lost 2% as European Central Bank policymakers warned that increased tariffs from Trump would hamper global growth.
Some of the stocks expected to perform well under Trump gave back gains with shares in electric car maker Tesla falling during Tuesday's session after rising nearly 40% since election day.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index lost ground after closing at a three-year high on Monday. And rising US Treasury yields hurt equities as bond investors priced in Trump policies.
"The 10-year Treasury yield is kind of creating a headwind against the equity rally. There's sort of these conflicting signals where investors are celebrating all of these growth initiatives but the bond market is pushing back," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital.
"The problem is between tariffs, tax cuts and immigration restrictions, it really is pushing on creating inflation pressure that the bond market can't ignore."
Russell Price, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial, said the decline in stocks overseas added some pressure to US stocks, along with profit-taking ahead of inflation data.
"When we opened up already experiencing some downside with the very strong run that we've had, investors tend to look to take some profits just in case stocks continue to slide," Price said.
On investors' radar is Wednesday's consumer price inflation data, followed by producer prices inflation and retail sales data later this week, as these could provide clues about the US Federal Reserve's policy path going forward.
The data presents a near-term risk to investments, said Price. "It very likely is contributing to a little bit of the downside that we're seeing today."
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 17.17 points, or 0.29%, to end at 5,984.18 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 16.00 points, or 0.08%, to 19,282.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 377.45 points, or 0.85%, to 43,915.68.
Markets have already dialled back expectations for interest-rate reductions over the next year, given strong economic data and the possible inflationary impact of some Trump policies.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari said Tuesday afternoon that U.S. monetary policy is "modestly restrictive," with short-term borrowing costs continuing to slow inflation and the economy, but not by a lot.
Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin said earlier in the day that the US central bank is ready to respond if inflation pressures rise or the job market weakens.
Biotech firm Novavax dropped after cutting its annual revenue forecast due to lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Honeywell hit a record high after activist investor Elliott Investment said it has built a stake worth more than US$5 billion in the industrial conglomerate. — Reuters
