US stock markets today (May 19, 2026): Dow drops nearly 400 points as tech rally cools; Nvidia earnings in focus

US stock markets extended losses on Tuesday, with Wall Street moving further away from record highs as technology stocks lost momentum and investors remained cautious over rising bond yields, oil price volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.The S&P 500 declined 0.5 per cent and was headed for its third consecutive decline after recently touching a record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 397 points, or 0.8 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.6 per cent in early trade, AP reported.Markets globally also remained mixed. South Korea's Kospi fell 3.3 per cent as weakness in technology shares weighed on sentiment, while Germany's DAX advanced around 1 per cent.Technology stocks, which had powered markets higher on optimism around artificial intelligence, showed signs of losing steam after a sharp rally that had drawn concerns over stretched valuations.Investors are now closely watching chipmaker Nvidia, which is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday. The company's results are expected to play a key role in determining whether technology stocks can sustain their broader rally.Nvidia shares fell 0.7 per cent."Every flow has its ebb," Rex Feng, Venu Krishna and other strategists at Barclays Capital wrote in a report.They added that investors had been pouring money into US stock funds at an elevated pace, which helped fuel "the fastest rebound in decades; now the pendulum could swing backwards."Among individual stocks, Akamai Technologies dropped 3.9 per cent after the cybersecurity and cloud services company announced plans to raise $2.6 billion through a convertible note offering.Home Depot declined 2.2 per cent despite reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. However, sales growth at stores operating for more than a year missed some estimates.CEO Ted Decker said Home Depot witnessed demand trends similar to last year "despite greater consumer uncertainty and housing affordability pressure."Meanwhile, bond yields continued to climb. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury rose to 4.66 per cent from 4.61 per cent on Monday and remained significantly above levels seen before the Iran conflict.Oil prices eased slightly after recent sharp moves. Brent crude fell 0.7 per cent to $111.39 per barrel, though prices have largely stayed above $100 since the start of the Iran conflict.The average US gasoline price rose again to $4.53 a gallon, according to AAA, up around 43 per cent from the same period last year.