By Purvi Agarwal, Niket Nishant and Saeed Azhar
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Technology stocks pulled the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower on Monday as investors weighed fresh U.S. economic pressure against Iran and braced for a week that includes Nvidia earnings and a closely watched inflation report.
The Trump administration on Monday announced an expansion of secondary sanctions it can impose on entities and countries that maintain business ties with Iran as Washington significantly ratchets up economic pressure on Tehran with the Iran war nearing its six-month mark.
Chip stocks sold off, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index falling 2.6%. Nvidia lost 2.3%, Micron Technology fell almost 5.6% and Broadcom slid 2.1%, pressuring the S&P 500 Information Technology index.
Financials, however, gained 1%, with JPMorgan Chase up 1.1% and Visa adding 2.5%. They also kept the blue-chip Dow afloat.
At 02:02 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 77.53 points, or 0.14%, to 53,353.49, the S&P 500 lost 20.20 points, or 0.26%, to 7,654.13 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 148.77 points, or 0.57%, to 26,031.68.
EYES ON WARSH’S JACKSON HOLE SPEECH
Concerns over ballooning government debt had pushed the 30-year yield to a 19-year high before the Treasury announced support measures last week.
CNBC reported on Monday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could tap the department’s near $1 trillion General Account to help fund bond buybacks. Yet, the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield remained above the 5% threshold.
This turbulence has sharpened focus on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, where investors will look for clues on policymakers’ reading of the Treasury’s rescue efforts.
Quarterly results from AI giant Nvidia are expected to be another key catalyst for markets. Any sign of slowing growth could reignite concerns over stretched valuations.
“Nvidia needs to impress in order to keep one leg of the stock market stable, and Warsh needs to provide clarity on interest rates in order to keep the other leg stable,” said Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners. “The Treasury’s unprecedented action in the bond market puts Warsh in a tough spot, especially for a Chair that seems to prefer less communication.”
Markets will also monitor the Personal Consumption Expenditures report, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due on Wednesday. It will follow a benign consumer inflation report earlier this month that reduced the chances of an immediate increase in interest rates.
Traders expect one 25-basis-point hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data.
Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that tariffs on cars, trucks and automotive parts from Canada would be increased to 50% starting January 1 after trade talks collapsed over the weekend.
Automakers Ford and General Motors fell 3% and 1.2%, respectively, while trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport dropped 5.3%.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 118 new highs and 94 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 71 new highs and 80 new lows.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Niket Nishant and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Mark Porter)
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