Markets News, February 24, 2025: S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite Extend Slump as Tech Shares Slide; Nvidia, Palantir Tumble

Major U.S. indexes finished mostly lower on Monday, led by declines for big-name technology stocks, as the market struggled to rebound from last week's steep downturn.

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively, marking the third consecutive day of sharp declines, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% after posting its worst weekly performance since October last week. With their recent slump, the major indexes are in negative territory for February.

AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which is due to report quarterly results on Wednesday and bounced between gains and losses during Monday's session, closed 3.1% lower, adding to Friday's 4% drop. Fellow chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) shed nearly 5% today.

Among other large-cap tech stocks, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) also lost ground. Apple (AAPL) finished slightly higher after the company announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.

Other noteworthy movers in the tech sector included analytics software provider Palantir (PLTR), which plunged 10.5% to lead S&P 500 decliners after falling sharply last week, and server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI), which dropped 8%.

Nike (NKE) rose nearly 5% to lead Dow gainers after Jefferies analysts recommended that investors "aggressively" buy shares in the sporting goods and apparel company. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B) shares jumped more than 4% after the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett reported a 70% increase in fourth-quarter operating earnings.

The earnings calendar was light on Monday but picks up significantly in the coming days, with quarterly reports scheduled to be released by Home Depot (HD), Lowe's (LOW), Salesforce (CRM) and Dell Technologies (DELL), among other noteworthy releases. Dell shares fell nearly 3% Monday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is sensitive to expectations about where interest rates are headed, was at 4.40% in late trading, down from 4.42% at the end of last week and near its lowest level of the month.

The yield fell on Friday following the release of data on home sales and consumer confidence that came in weaker than expected. Investors will be keeping close tabs on economic releases this week, most notably a key inflation indicator that's slated for release Friday, as they look for information that could affect the Federal Reserve's decision-making on interest rates.

Gold futures were up 0.5% at around $2,970 an ounce late Monday, trading near a record high, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were up 0.7% at $70.90 per barrel.

Bitcoin, which has traded in a narrow range in recent weeks, was at $92,400 recently, down from an intraday high of $96,500.

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