US: Stocks end down as investors shift to oil from tech

[NEW YORK] Weakness in technology shares weighed down Wall Street stocks on Wednesday, pushing major indices lower despite a rally in petroleum-linked equities.

Stocks fell for a second straight session, with the biggest pain coming in the Nasdaq as tech giants including Apple, Facebook and Netflix slumped.

"We're sort of taking a pause for breath," said FHN Financial economist Chris Low. "There's definitely some rotation going on." The tech-rich Nasdaq ended down 2.0 per cent at 12,961.89.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.6 per cent to 3,889.14, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished marginally negative at 32,420.06.

Mr Low said disappointing durable goods data fueled the rout, including weakness in motor vehicles and parts, an industry that has seen production cuts due to a shortage of semiconductors.

Another source of economic pressure has been the Texas power outage in February.

"There's a growing sense that we're bumping up against capacity constraints," Mr Low said.

Among individual companies, GameStop plunged 33.8 per cent after reporting lower-than-expected earnings. The stock has been highly volatile in 2021 due to support from upstart retail investors who have countered company critics that have bet against the videogame retailer.

Intel fell 2.3 per cent after announcing it will invest US$20 billion in building two new plants in Arizona as part of a plan to ramp up production in the United States and Europe.

But petroleum producers ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips all surged more than two per cent on rising optimism about an economic recovery driven by coronavirus vaccines.

AFP