US stocks tick down as tech jitters linger

Wall Street’s major indexes retreated slightly on Tuesday, as worries over valuations of artificial intelligence stocks lingered in the final days of 2025.Shortly after trading began, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 percent to 48,380.60 while the broad-based S&P 500 Index edged 0.1 percent lower to 6,901.00.The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index also pulled back 0.1 percent to 23,442.33.“It’s perfectly normal for the market to pause, consolidate, go down a little bit, so on,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments, adding that it is a healthy situation.“Right now, the market is consolidating a very strong rally from April’s low until October,” he added.Among individual companies, Boeing shares jumped 1.3 percent in early trading after the Pentagon announced that the company was awarded an $8.6 billion contract for F-15 jets for Israel.The contract comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East despite a fragile ceasefire that temporarily halted two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But both sides have traded accusations of truce violations.On Tuesday, investors will also be eyeing meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy gathering for further hints on when the US central bank might lower interest rates again.Major tech players saw declines early Tuesday as well, with shares in Nvidia and Palantir Technologies dipping.