17.02.202618:38:57UTC+00US Stocks Pare Losses

US stocks traded mostly flat Tuesday afternoon, trimming earlier losses as weakness in high-multiple technology and software names was offset by gains in financials following fresh Federal Reserve commentary. The S&P 500 inched up about 0.2%, the Dow rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq 100 was little changed.

Software and cloud stocks remained under pressure amid ongoing concerns that artificial intelligence could disrupt traditional business models. Salesforce fell 2.6%, Intuit dropped 5%, and Oracle declined nearly 4%, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF lost more than 2%. Semiconductor names were mixed: AMD slipped roughly 2%, whereas Nvidia added about 1.3%.

Financials outperformed, with JPMorgan gaining around 1.1% and Citigroup advancing 2.2%. The sector found support after Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr signaled that interest rates may stay on hold “for some time,” shoring up net interest margin expectations ahead of the release of Fed minutes and this week’s core PCE inflation report.