Stock Market Today: S&P, Nasdaq Extend Losing Streaks on Micron Demand Woes

The latest batch of corporate earnings updates sparked a selloff in stocks on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the path lower.

Travel stocks were hit particularly hard after Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) reported its second-quarter results. For the three-month period, the cruise operator brought in revenue of $1.2 billion and recorded a per-share loss of $1.14, missing analysts' consensus estimates. And in the company's earnings call, CEO Frank Del Rio said that bookings in the second half remain below the "extraordinarily strong" levels they were at in 2019. This sparked a 10.6% drop in NCLH stock to a point not much above its pandemic lows. Other travel-related names like Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL, -5.6%) and American Airlines (AAL, -2.7%) fell as well.

Meanwhile, Micron Technology (MU, -3.7%) followed in the footsteps of fellow chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA, -4.0%), whose revenue warning on Monday put pressure on tech stocks. This morning, MU said it anticipates challenging market conditions to last through its next fiscal year, sparked by lower demand for its memory chips.

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"[The] memory industry, including Micron, is in the midst of a meaningful inventory correction by customers," says Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Mehdi Hosseini – who adds that the issue will likely not be resolved until at least mid-2023. Other semiconductor stocks closed lower on the news, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, -4.5%) and Applied Materials (AMAT, -7.6%).

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Against this backdrop, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 1.2% to 12,493 – marking its third straight loss – while the S&P 500 Index shed 0.4% to 4,122, its fourth consecutive decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.2% to 32,774.

Other news in the stock market today:

• The small-cap Russell 2000 shed 1.5% to 1,912.
• U.S. crude futures slipped 0.3% to $90.50 per barrel.
• Gold futures gained 0.4% to finish at $1,812.30 an ounce.
• Bitcoin fell 3.6% to $23,064.60. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
• Novavax (NVAX) plunged 29.6% after the vaccine maker reported a per-share loss of $6.53 in its second quarter on revenue of $185.9 million. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $5.54 per share on $1.0 billion in revenue. The company also slashed its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $2 billion to $3 billion (down from previous guidance for revenue of $4 billion to $5 billion), "to account for several evolving market dynamics," NVAX executives said.
• Signet Jewelers (SIG) plunged 11.7% after the jewelry retailer cut its second-quarter and full-year financial forecasts, citing a slowdown in consumer spending in July. SIG also said it is acquiring online jewelry retailer Blue Nile for $360 million in cash.

America's Most Expensive Cities

Tomorrow we'll get the latest update on inflation, with the consumer price index (CPI) slated for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. "Investors are laser-focused on Wednesday's CPI data, as they hunt for signs of U.S. inflation levels, whether those levels have peaked and, ultimately, how the latest figures will impact the Fed's immediate and medium-term rate policy decisions," says Greg Bassuk, CEO at asset management firm AXS Investments.

June's CPI report showed inflation had not yet peaked, with significant price increases seen in food (+10.4% year-over year), energy (+41.6% YoY) and shelter (+ 5.6% YoY). And while it's possible that July's data could show moderation in cost increases – particularly given the recent drop in oil – higher prices remain a hot topic.

With that in mind, we decided to take a closer look at the most expensive U.S. cities. Whether it be gas prices, housing costs or groceries, this list is made up of the priciest American cities to call home.