U.S. equities tumbled from record highs Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected April inflation report consolidated worries that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates this year, with the selloff compounded by surging oil prices and a fresh leg higher in long-end Treasury yields.

Headline Consumer Price Index accelerated to 3.8% year-over-year in April from 3.3% prior, the highest reading since March 2023 and above the 3.7% consensus, driven largely by gasoline prices.

Core inflation also surprised to the upside at 2.8%, leaving the Fed widely expected to keep rates on hold throughout the year, while markets currently price in a roughly 30% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike in December.

The 10-year Treasury yield jumped about 4 basis points to 4.46%, nearing March highs, while the 30-year yield breached the psychologically important 5.02% level and the 2-year traded near 4.0%.

Read Also: Trump Wanted Warsh For Rate Cuts, He May Get A Hike Instead

By Midday Tuesday…

Across U.S. equity markets, losses were broad-based but concentrated in technology and small caps. The Nasdaq 100 led the way lower as the semiconductor complex collapsed.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% to 7,347, while the Nasdaq 100 sank 2.1% to 28,699 as the AI-infrastructure trade unraveled.

President Donald Trump criticized an Iranian counteroffer to end the war, and said the month-long ceasefire is “unbelievably weak”.

WTI crude climbed to $101.43 a barrel by midday, up 3.4%, while Brent rose 3.3% to $107.60.

Gold pulled back 1.4% to $4,671 per troy ounce as a stronger dollar and surging real rates trumped haven demand, with the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) tracking the move lower.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices

IndexLast% Change
S&P 5007,347.36-0.9%
Dow Jones49,557.51-0.3%
Nasdaq 10028,699.04-2.1%
Russell 20002,804.90-2.3%
Updated by 12:15 PM ET

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

  • The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) fell 0.9%.
  • The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slipped 0.3%.
  • The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) dropped 2.1%.
  • The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) sank 2.3%.

South Korea’s ‘AI Citizen Dividend’ Hammers Memory Rally

Memory and chip equipment names led the carnage as South Korea mulled establishing a universal dividend funded by the recent surge in AI infrastructure stocks, threatening to claw back gains in the sector. 

Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) tumbled 9.0%, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) slid 8.9%, Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) dropped 8.6%, and Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) fell 7.6%.

Chip equipment names followed lower with Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) down 5.5%, Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) off 5.4%, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) down 5.3% and Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) lower by 3.6%.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) sank 13% on a continuation of the post-earnings slide.

Tuesday’s Earnings Movers

  • Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) jumped 18% to lead the Russell 1000 after first-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.75 crushed the $4.33 consensus and revenue rose 14% to $1.5 billion. Management raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to the $18.50 midpoint, a 2.8% bump that ratified a constructive read on enterprise mobile-computing demand.
  • The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) ripped 15% after Q1 adjusted EPS of about $0.12 on revenue of $540.6 million beat consensus, despite global systemwide sales falling 5.5% and same-restaurant sales dropping 6.8%. The catalyst was a newly inked franchise agreement to develop up to 1,000 restaurants in China, a strategic pivot investors rewarded despite the soft headline comp.
  • Ralliant Corporation (NYSE:RAL) surged 14% after reporting first-quarter results and raising full-year guidance, the post-spinoff industrial name’s first definitive proof point to public-market investors. 
  • Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) climbed about 10% after second-quarter adjusted EPS of 49 cents beat the 47-cent consensus on revenue of $4.91 billion vs. $4.75 billion expected, with management taking fiscal 2026 organic revenue growth to the high end of the prior 7-9% range.

On The Downside

  • ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GTM) collapsed 33% after the data-intelligence firm slashed full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $1.185-$1.205 billion from $1.247-$1.267 billion previously, well below the $1.272 billion consensus, despite Q1 EPS of $0.28 beating the $0.18 estimate.
  • Under Armour Inc. (NYSE:UAA) tumbled 17% after Q4 fiscal 2026 EPS came in at -$0.03 versus -$0.02 expected on $1.17 billion revenue, with North America sales down 7% and fiscal 2027 guidance pointing to continued revenue declines and weak profit. 
  • AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 13% after first-quarter revenue of $14.7 million missed the $39.0 million consensus by a wide margin, with management flagging a $155-$160 million asset write-off in Q2 tied to a satellite loss. 
  • AECOM (NYSE:ACM) dropped 11% as fiscal Q2 revenue of $3.80 billion missed Street estimates and was flat year-over-year, with the top-line shortfall overshadowing a $1.59 adjusted EPS beat and a raised FY26 outlook.
  • Elsewhere, Hims & Hers Health Inc. (NYSE:HIMS) plunged 15% after Q1 earnings missed expectations.

Read Also: Yardeni, RBC, And HSBC Raise S&P 500 Targets: Who's The Most Bullish On The Street Now?


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