Wall Street reverses gains in early trading

Major US equity indices opened down on Tuesday, as traders were once again gripped by concerns about slowing global growth, tighter lending conditions, and earnings uncertainty.

On Monday, stocks were turbulent but finished higher as investors looked for bargains, while Twitter’s decision to accept a takeover offer from Tesla CEO Elon Musk dominated headlines.

Fears that the latest wave of Covid-19 infections in China may exacerbate supply issues and stifle global development, as well as the Federal Reserve’s signaling of aggressive rate hikes to combat record US inflation, have put Wall Street in a jittery mood.

Government data released before the open showed orders for big-ticket manufactured goods rising in March after slumping the month prior, though Patrick J O’Hare of Briefing.com said that wasn’t enough to overcome the anxiety pervading markets.

“The lackluster response… is another indication that market participants have their doubts about stronger economic activity persisting in the face of clear growth obstacles like hawkish-minded central banks and ongoing supply chain pressures that have been felt with China’s lockdowns,” he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7 percent at 33,803.21 after 20 minutes of trading.

The broad S&P 500 index had down 0.8 percent to 4,259.86, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index had dropped 1.4 percent to 12,821.36.

After accepting the proposal to be delisted from stock exchanges and become a private firm, Twitter was trading 1.7 percent down. The stock of Tesla was down 3.4 percent.

Microsoft and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, were also down after the market closed. They are important components of key indices and have a big impact on sentiment.