US tech shares resume sell-off; oil prices retreat

Global stock markets experienced a broad decline on Tuesday, driven by a renewed sell-off in US technology shares and concerns over escalating US-Iran tensions. Oil prices also retreated, with Brent crude briefly falling below $90 per barrel for the first time since mid-April.

The tech sector faced renewed pressure after a period of strong gains, with shares of semiconductor companies and artificial intelligence stocks seeing declines. Apple's stock fell 3.6% following lackluster reviews for an AI update to its Siri voice assistant. This pullback is seen by some analysts as a natural correction after a significant upward trend, with investors potentially taking profits or reallocating funds for upcoming initial public offerings, such as SpaceX.

Oil prices eased after US President Donald Trump suggested a potential deal with Iran was possible in the coming days, despite his vow to respond to an accusation that Iran shot down a US military helicopter. Meanwhile, European markets retreated, with London stocks falling due to a decline in GSK's share price following its takeover bid for US cancer specialist Nuvalent. Earlier, Asian markets saw some recovery, with Seoul's Kospi index surging after a significant drop.

Investors are now looking ahead to key economic data releases, including US inflation figures expected on Wednesday. A projected consumer price index of 4.2% would be the highest in over three years and could solidify expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike. The European Central Bank is also widely anticipated to raise rates by 25 basis points at its upcoming meeting to combat rising inflation, exacerbated by the Middle East conflict's impact on energy prices.

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It's normal to see the market after a big move up...to see investors question the thesis, take some profits, and then have the market pull back a little bit because everybody that wanted to buy in this latest rush, over the last 10 weeks, pretty much already bought it.