Nvidia, Tesla lead Nasdaq lower as bitcoin sinks, consumer confidence plummets

US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, with the blue-chip Dow the only major index to finish the day’s volatile session in the green.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led broader market losses, down around 1.3%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped roughly 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) reversed earlier declines to end the day in the green, up about 0.4%.

Meanwhile, bitcoin bounced off of its session lows to hover around $88,000 a coin.

Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:

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Bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) tumble offers “another chance to enter” the crypto market, according to Bernstein analysts.

“We don’t believe, anything fundamental has broken in our structural view of the current Bitcoin cycle,” wrote Bernstein’s Gautam Chhugani and his team on Tuesday after the token broke below $90,000.

“Long term, our mental model is simply a burgeoning ‘digital gold’ asset class, driven by accelerating institutional & sovereign demand,” the analyst said.

Bernstein forecasts bitcoin will reach a high closer to $200,000 over the next 12 months.

“We view the current correction, as another opportunity to participate in this cycle,” Chhugani.

As for crypto’s sharp decline, the analysts said the bitcoin market “is following the broader equity risk sentiment driven by macro concerns around persistent higher rates, with fears of government turning deflationary with the DOGE program.”

Oil prices slid on Tuesday as traders weighed a muddied demand outlook on global growth concerns.

WTI crude oil fell over 2.5% to trade near $69 a barrel, its lowest level since Dec. 23 with the commodity on track for its lowest close since Dec. 10.

Brent, the international benchmark, also fell around 2.5% to trade below $73 a barrel.

The latest price action comes after the US imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Yahoo Finance’s Laura Bratton reports:

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Hims & Hers (HIMS) stock plunged 27% on Tuesday after the telehealth highflier posted better-than-expected fourth quarter results but confirmed it may soon stop selling some of its compound drugs for weight loss after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said a shortage of GLP-1 drugs has been resolved.

Investors sold off the stock over the potential loss in revenue from the blockbuster GLP-1 segment, which targets diabetes and weight loss.

On Monday, Hims & Hers CFO Yemi Okupe downplayed those concerns, saying the weight-loss business makes up only part of the company’s revenue.

“While we’re excited to have 200,000 subscribers join our weight-loss specialty over the course of the last year, it’s also important to not lose sight of the other 2 million subscribers that have signed up for non-weight-related businesses,” Okupe told Yahoo Finance on Monday.

Okupe went on to highlight that the company reported $1.5 billion in revenue for 2024, with $1.2 billion from sources other than GLP-1s.

“We do fully intend to abide by all regulatory requirements and, when necessary to do so, will remove all commercially available dosages of semaglutide from the platform,” he said, while still expressing confidence in the company’s weight-loss offering.

Read more here.

It was a sea of red on Wall Street as the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped around 2% following weak consumer confidence data and more uneasiness around Trump’s tariff plans.

The megacap “Magnificent Seven” players extended the declines from the previous session, with Meta (META) dropping over 3%, followed by Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Strategy (MSTR) was the worst-performing stock in the index, falling around 11% as bitcoin prices dropped below $90,000 for the first time since November.

Consumer confidence declined sharply in February as more Americans felt uneasy about the future state of the US economy, according to new data released Tuesday morning.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for February came in at a reading of 98.3, a significant drop from January’s revised 105 reading and short of the 102.5 reading expected by economists.

“In February, consumer confidence registered the largest monthly decline since August 2021,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist of global indicators at The Conference Board. “This is the third consecutive month-on-month decline, bringing the Index to the bottom of the range that has prevailed since 2022.”

The “Present Situation Index,” which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, fell to 136.5 in February from 139 in January.

The “Expectations Index,” which tracks consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, also fell to 72.9 in February from 82 last month. Historically, a reading below 80 in that category signals a recession in the coming year. This was the first time since June 2024 that the index came in below that threshold.

Meanwhile, average 12-month inflation expectations jumped from 5.2% last month to 6% in February.

“This increase likely reflected a mix of factors, including sticky inflation but also the recent jump in prices of key household staples like eggs and the expected impact of tariffs,” Guichard said. “References to inflation and prices in general continue to rank high in write-in responses, but the focus shifted towards other topics.”

“There was a sharp increase in the mentions of trade and tariffs, back to a level unseen since 2019. Most notably, comments on the current Administration and its policies dominated the responses.”

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The major indexes struggled to mount a comeback on Tuesday, with tech stocks under pressure.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell around 0.3%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) hovered around the flat line. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched up about 0.4%.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was a standout, with the largest cryptocurrency falling below $90,000 for the first time since November.

Home prices rose at a faster rate in December than the previous month, providing little relief to potential homebuyers.

The S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rose 3.9% from a year earlier in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than November’s 3.7% annual increase.

The data captures a three-month period through December when mortgage rates remained steady at around 7%, a double whammy for buyers. The national index hit a record high for the 19th consecutive month.

On a monthly basis, prices increased 0.5% over the previous month in December, up from the 0.4% November’s monthly gain.

“The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index continues to highlight the upward trend of home prices nationally,” Brian Luke, head of commodities at S&P CoreLogic, said in a statement.

“Through this recent market cycle, the ability of Americans to grow wealth by participating in the upside of the US housing market, particularly if done through a leveraged position by securing a mortgage, has proven to be historically beneficial,” Luke added.

The index tracking home prices in the 20 largest metropolitan areas gained 0.5% in December, higher than thBloomberg consensus estimate of 0.4%. The 20-city index jumped 4.5% compared to last December.

Chegg Inc. (CHGG) is taking Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) to court, accusing Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) product of gutting its web traffic and forcing a strategic business review. Once a go-to for students needing homework help, Chegg claims Google’s AI tools are siphoning users away by repurposing its content while keeping them locked within Google’s ecosystem.

The impact has been brutal — Chegg’s stock tumbled 22% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Bloomberg News reports:

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Economic data: FHFA house price index (December); S&P CoreLogic CS 20-city (December); Conference Board Consumer Confidence (February); Richmond Fed manufacturing index (February)

Earnings: American Tower (AMT), AMC (AMC), Cava (CAVA), First Solar (FSLR), The Home Depot (HD), Instacart (CART), Intuit (INTU), Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP), Krispy Kreme (DNUT), Lemonade (LMND), Lucid (LCID), Planet Fitness (PLNT), Workday (WDAY)

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There’s an ugly trend developing in the stock market: Analyst

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Chegg slumps 23% after suing Alphabet over Google AI impact