Stock market today: Wall Street slips further from its record highs

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling further from their records on Tuesday, as a lull for Wall Street this week continues.

The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in early trading and on track for a second straight dip after closing last week at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 182 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower.

Apple’s drop of 2.4% was one of the heaviest weights on the market. It’s been struggling on worries about sluggish iPhone sales in China, where tough competition and a faltering overall economy are challenging it.

MicroStrategy fell 2.6% after it said it will raise $600 million in debt, which it will use to buy more bitcoin and for “general corporate purposes.” Bitcoin has been surging toward its record of nearly $69,000 recently, and it was sitting a little above $67,000 in Tuesday morning trading.

Target was helping to support the market after climbing 11.7%. It reported a bigger jump in profit for the end of 2023 than analysts expected as it held the line on some expenses.

New York Community Bancorp was also rising, up 7.7%, a day after it plunged 23%. The bank is under heavy pressure because of losses tied to investments it has related to commercial real estate. It’s also under heavier regulatory scrutiny because of its purchase of much of Signature Bank, one of the banks that fell in last year’s mini-crisis for the industry.

Several analysts still say NYCB’s problems are likely unique to it, more than a signal of a coming tsunami for banks broadly, particularly after U.S. government efforts last year to bolster the industry. But if interest rates remain high, more pressure could build on the entire industry.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were slipping ahead of a suite of reports that will show how the services industry, factory orders and other parts of the economy are doing.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.15% from 4.22% late Monday.

The overall economy has remained remarkably solid despite high interest rates meant to grind down inflation. Along with Tuesday’s reports, data later this week will show how many job openings U.S. employers are advertising and how many people across the country are unemployed.

Wall Street’s hope has been that the economy will continue plugging along, but not at such a strong pace that it keeps upward pressure on inflation. That’s because traders want the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year, something it’s hinted it will do if inflation cools decisively toward its 2% target.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will give testimony before Congress later this week, which could further sway expectations for when cuts to rates could begin. Traders have already given up on hopes for a March cut and are now eyeing June.

In stock markets abroad, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 2.6% after China’s premier said the country’s target for economic growth this year is around 5%, in line with expectations. China’s economy expanded at a 5.2% annual rate last year after growth dipped to 3% in 2022.

Li Qiang, addressing the opening meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, also said Beijing would issue 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) in long-term bonds to help bridge funding gaps, provide support to financially strapped local governments and invest in both advanced technology and in social support and education.

But the government’s intention to keep its deficit at 3% of China’s overall economy may have disappointed investors hoping for more aggressive action.

Stocks in Shanghai inched up by 0.3%, while indexes were modestly lower across much of the rest of the world.

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AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.