U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Lower Amid Tech Sell-Off

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Friday, with the major averages all moving to the downside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has led the way lower, tumbling 396.53 points or 1.7 percent to 23,197.33, while the S&P 500 is down 76.56 points or 1.1 percent at 6,824.44.

The narrower Dow is posting a more modest loss after reaching a new record intraday high in early trading, falling 189.50 points or 0.4 percent to 48,514.51.

The weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes amid a sell-off by tech stocks, as reflected by the slump by the Nasdaq.

Broadcom (AVGO) has helped lead the tech sector lower, with the chipmaker plunging by more than 10 percent on the day.

The steep drop by Broadcom comes even though the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance for the current quarter.

Tech stocks like Oracle (ORCL), Micron Technology (MU) and Advance Micro Devices (AMD) have also moved sharply lower, reflecting a continued rotation out of tech stocks.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to comments by Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee explaining his decision to vote against cutting interest rates at last week's Fed meeting.

In a post on the Chicago Fed website, Goolsbee said he is uneasy about "too heavily front-loading rate cuts and just assuming that inflation will be transitory."

"While I voted to lower rates at the September and October meetings, I believe we should have waited to get more data, especially about inflation, before lowering rates further," Goolsbee said.

Sector News

Computer hardware stocks are turning in some of the market's worst performances on the day, resulting in a 4.9 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Networking, semiconductor and software stocks are also seeing substantial weakness, contributing to the steep drop by the Nasdaq.

Outside the tech sector, oil service, steel and gold stocks are seeing notable weakness, while airline stocks are bucking the downtrend.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved notably higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.1 basis points at 4.192 percent.