US stocks slide amid mega-cap tech weakness and earnings uncertainty

Adobe and Microsoft were among the biggest decliners among tech firms in the S&P 500.
WTI crude oil tumbled as much as 21% before paring those losses to less than 1%.
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US stocks slid on Tuesday, erasing earlier gains. Major indexes were dragged lower by mega-cap tech weakness, oil-market volatility, and uncertainty around earnings season.

Adobe and Microsoft were among the biggest decliners among tech firms in the S&P 500.

Here's where major US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Tuesday:

S&P 500 : 2,863.39, down 0.5%
Dow Jones industrial average : 24,101.55, down 0.1% (32 points)
Nasdaq composite : 8,607.73, down 1.4%

US states including Mississippi, Tennessee, and Colorado on Monday allowed some businesses to reopen following lockdowns to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska, and South Carolina started reopening economies, allowing businesses such as tattoo parlors and hair salons to open.

Slumping technology shares dragged the Nasdaq lower. Alphabet, Google's parent company, fell as much as 3%, ahead of its earnings reporte. Netflix slipped 4%, while Amazon and Facebook fell 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively.

Investors are continuing to look at first-quarter earnings releases to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Shares of Ford climbed as much as 7.2% after the company said it expects to begin reopening its European factories as soon as next week. 3M surged 6.1% at intraday highs after boosted sales of personal safety equipment carried first-quarter results.

Oil continued to slumped Tuesday, extending historic rout after the commodity fell into negative territory for the first time ever last week. Now, fears that storage may soon be exhausted are again weighing on prices . WTI crude futures slipped as much as 21%, to $10.07, before paring those losses and settling down than 1%.

"It looks like fear is kicking into investor sentiment following the insane shock just one week ago that eventually led to negative U.S oil prices and nobody wants to see the next contract expiry date follow the path of the May contract," Jameel Ahmad, global head of market research and currency strategy at FXTM, told Business Insider.

He continued: "As a result it appears that upcoming contracts are becoming very liquid, and investors can expect to see continued volatility."

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