US: Tech-centred Nasdaq leads stocks lower

LARGE tech shares stumbled Monday (Jun 26), weighing on major indices as markets eyed ongoing events in Russia and awaited key economic reports later in the week.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet dropped 3.2 per cent following a downgrade by UBS while Tesla slumped 6.1 per cent on a downgrade by Goldman Sachs.

Others to fall included Amazon, Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Microsoft, leaving the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index down 1.2 per cent at 13,335.78.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed less than 0.1 per cent to 33,714.71, while the broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent to 4,328.82.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was meeting security officials Monday. In a televised address, Putin said that any attempt to blackmail Russia or foment unrest would fail after the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched but then abandoned a mutiny.

Among individual companies, IBM shares rose 1.5 per cent after announcing it would buy software firm Apptio for US$4.6 billion from Vista Equity Partners. It said the acquisition would help it serve clients on the optimisation of information technology spending.

Prologis gained 1.8 per cent as it announced it acquired industrial warehouse properties from Blackstone for US$3.1 billion. Blackstone climbed 1.1 per cent.

This week’s calendar in the United States includes durable goods orders for May, data on personal income and prices for the same month, plus a reading on consumer confidence.

The reports come as Wall Street weighs the likelihood of additional Federal Reserve interest rates hikes after the central bank paused its increases earlier this month.

SEE ALSO

US: Wall St kicks off the week on a mixed note as rate worries persist

Fed chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to appear at a central bank forum in Portugal on Wednesday. AFP