Wall Street Closes Lower; Nasdaq Drops 1.89%

Shares of semiconductor giant Nvidia dropped 6.2% after reaching a record high yesterday. The decline followed the company’s unveiling of a new line of AI-enabled chips at the CES trade show in Las Vegas.

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by sharp declines in technology stocks such as Tesla and Nvidia, which dragged the Nasdaq down by 1.89%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.42% to close at 42,528.36 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.11% to end at 5,909.03 points. The Nasdaq Composite, heavily influenced by tech stocks, closed at 19,489.68 points, down 1.89%.

SPX

Meanwhile, Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric car company, fell 4.8% after Bank of America downgraded its stock. The downgrade was attributed to elevated valuations following recent gains and risks associated with its strategic direction.

Tech Sector Performance

The technology sector led the losses, closing down 2.39%, followed by consumer discretionary stocks (-2.21%) and communication services (-1.05%). Within the Dow Jones, Amazon saw the second-largest drop after Nvidia, declining 2.42%, while Verizon fell 1.74%.

SPX

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, highlighted during the day that Micron Technology provides memory for its GeForce RTX 50 Blackwell gaming chips.

Meanwhile, shares of Aurora Innovation, a leader in autonomous driving technology, surged 38%. The rally was fueled by news of a long-term partnership with Nvidia and Continental to advance the development of autonomous trucks.

These collaborations underscore Nvidia’s expanding influence across gaming and autonomous vehicle technologies, even as its stock faced declines today.

Commodities Market

In the commodities market, oil prices rose on Tuesday, driven by concerns over potential supply restrictions from Russia and Iran due to Western sanctions, coupled with expectations of increased demand from China.

Brent crude futures gained 75 cents (0.98%) to close at $77.05 per barrel. Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 69 cents (0.94%) to settle at $74.25 per barrel.

The fear of sanctions limiting supply has spurred higher demand for Middle Eastern oil, reflected in Saudi Arabia raising its crude prices for Asia in February, marking the first increase in three months.

Ignacio Teson

Economist and Financial Analyst

Ignacio Teson is an Economist and Financial Analyst. He has more than 7 years of experience in emerging markets. He worked as an analyst and market operator at brokerage firms in Argentina and Spain.