Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, August 8, 2022.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
The S&P 500 fell slightly on Tuesday as investors navigated a batch of disappointing corporate reports ahead of a key inflation reading.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.
Memory chipmaker Micron warned that revenue may be below its previous guidance due to “macroeconomic factors and supply chain constraints.”
It’s been a rough week for chipmakers. Weaker-than-expected revenue guidance from Nvidia weighed on the group on Monday. Nvidia fell again on Tuesday, losing another 3% after a 6% drop on Monday. The iShares Semiconductor ETF lost 3% on Tuesday after falling 1.5% on Monday.
The S&P 500 has risen for three straight weeks, but the earnings season has seen demand warnings from big company executives. Investors are watching closely to determine how the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation is affecting the economy.
“In our view, the Fed’s rate hikes are hitting the economy in a one-time fashion. We believe that tightening is just beginning to broadly affect the economy and that our medium-term bearish base case holds intact,” Wolfe Research’s Chris Senyek said in a note. to customers on Tuesday.
Outside of chips, a couple of Nasdaq-listed stocks were also taking early hits. Novavax fell 27% after cutting full-year revenue guidance due to weak demand for its Covid vaccines. Upstart declined nearly 10% after the consumer loan company reported second-quarter results that missed expectations for profit and revenue.
On the economic front, investors await the latest reading of the July consumer price index, due on Wednesday, for some clarity on the path of interest rate hikes from the Fed as it works to curb inflation, or at least slow it down.