US markets today: Wall Street slips as Nvidia extends losing streak; global tech rout deepens after Cloudflare glitch

Wall Street lost ground again on Tuesday as a fresh slide in Nvidia and other major technology stocks weighed on sentiment, adding to concerns that recent valuations had climbed too high. Early trading saw the S&P 500 fall 0.3%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 361 points and the Nasdaq composite declining 0.6%, AP reported.The weakness followed another volatile stretch for the US market. Home Depot was among the biggest drags after reporting summer-quarter profit below expectations, with the retailer attributing the shortfall to fewer major storms, anxious consumers and a continuing slowdown in the housing market. The company’s shares fell 3.1% and it cut its fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings guidance while raising its sales growth outlook.The rout in artificial-intelligence-related stocks continued to shape market direction. Nvidia, whose shares have fallen 8.6% this month, slipped another 1.1% ahead of its earnings announcement due on Wednesday after a 1.9% decline on Monday. Other chipmakers—including Micron, Intel and Qualcomm—lost between 1% and 2%. Among the tech giants, Microsoft slid 1.5% while Amazon dropped 1.8%.Cloudflare shares also weakened after a technical issue at the internet infrastructure provider triggered global outages affecting services such as ChatGPT. European and Asian markets followed Wall Street lower, with major indices in Germany, France and the UK down 1.4% by midday.Futures trading mirrored the cautious mood, with S&P 500 and Dow futures down 0.6% and 0.7% respectively, and Nasdaq futures retreating 0.7%.Investors are also bracing for the delayed US employment data, scheduled for release on Thursday after the prolonged government shutdown. The update is expected to influence the US Federal Reserve’s next interest rate move. While markets had anticipated continued rate cuts to support a weakening labour market, officials have pointed to the risk of worsening inflation, which remains above the 2% target.A strong jobs report could delay further rate cuts, while particularly weak numbers may raise concerns about economic momentum. Fed policymakers have also cited limited data availability due to the shutdown as a reason for adopting a more cautious stance.Across Asia, markets retreated sharply. Japan’s 30-year government bond yield surged to 3.31% as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi prepared higher government spending plans and delayed efforts to reduce public debt. The yen hovered above 155 per dollar. The Nikkei 225 slumped 3.2%, dragged down by major chip-related names including Tokyo Electron, which fell 5.5%, and Advantest, down 3.7%.In Seoul, the Kospi tumbled 3.3%, with Samsung Electronics losing 2.8% and SK Hynix sinking 5.9%. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 2.5% as TSMC retreated 2.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.7%, while China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.9%.Other high-momentum assets also softened. Bitcoin extended recent declines, slipping another 1% to around $91,360, its lowest level since April. Gold eased slightly to $4,039 an ounce.In the energy market, US benchmark crude held steady just under $60 a barrel.