US equity markets opened with a sharp divergence on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to new record highs while the Nasdaq Composite faced downward pressure.
The split performance highlights a continued rotation away from growth-oriented technology names toward more defensive blue-chip equities.
Skepticism surrounding artificial intelligence valuations is driving the weakness in the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Investors appear to be reassessing the near-term earnings potential of AI-related stocks, leading to selling pressure in the sector.
Meanwhile, the Dow’s ascent suggests capital is flowing into established industrial and consumer staples companies that are perceived as less vulnerable to the current tech sentiment shift.
This mixed opening follows a week of volatile trading, with US markets previously showing mixed signals as investors digested new price data that intensified concerns about persistent inflationary pressures.