US close: Major indices end session lower despite tech reversal

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Tuesday despite big-name tech stocks staging a late reversal.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.36% at 34,269.16, while the S&P 500 was 0.87% softer at 4,152.10 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.09% weaker at 13,389.43.

The Dow closed 473.66 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded on Monday as last week's ransomware attack on a major US fuel pipeline and a rotation out of growth stocks both dominated headlines.

In focus throughout the session, big tech stocks were again in the red early in the day, with shares in Facebook, Apple and Amazon all moving lower before paring losses later, while Tesla shares slumped following a report from Reuters that claimed the electric carmaker had halted plans to expand its Shanghai plant into an export hub.

Elsewhere in the corporate space, Hanesbrands said first-quarter net sales had shot up 25% to $1.51bn on the back of double-digit growth in both its global innerwear and activewear businesses, while Electronic Arts earnings forecasts fell short of expectations on the Street,

On the macro front, both small and large US businesses moved to increase wages and benefits as part of an effort to attract workers amid rising demand for their goods and services, according to the National Federation of Independent Business' small-business optimism, which index advanced 1.6 points in April to a pandemic-era high of 99.8. However, the reading was one point shy of the 100.8 print expected by economists.

Elsewhere, March's JOLTs job openings report came in ahead of expectations for a print of 7.5m at 8.12m, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hires were little changed at 6.0m, as were total separations at 5.3m. The layoffs and discharges rate decreased to a series low of 1.0%.