US sharemarkets declined on Tuesday, with losses led by technology stocks following reports of weaker-than-expected growth at OpenAI and rising oil prices. The S&P 500 fell 0.49% to 7,138.80, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9% to 24,663.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 25.86 points lower to 49,141.93.
Losses were partly offset by strength in defensive names, with Coca-Cola rising nearly 4% after reporting better-than-expected earnings.
Technology and semiconductor stocks came under pressure after reports that OpenAI’s revenue and user growth had fallen short of internal targets. Chipmakers declined broadly, with Nvidia, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices all moving lower, alongside Oracle. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF fell around 3%.
The pullback follows record highs reached earlier in the week, with investors showing caution ahead of a heavy schedule of earnings reports. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are due to report, followed by Apple, with these companies accounting for a significant portion of market capitalisation.
Oil prices moved higher, with West Texas Intermediate crude rising more than 3% to US$99.93 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 2.8% to US$111.26.
Australian Market Outlook
Australian shares are set to open lower, tracking declines on Wall Street and weakness in technology stocks. S&P/ASX 200 futures were down 37 points, or 0.4%, to 8,694.
Locally, companies including Woodside Energy, Vulcan Energy and 29Metals are set to report results.
On the data front, attention will be on the monthly consumer price index, due for release at 11.30am AEST.
