By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com –The S&P 500 moved off lows Wednesday after tech pared some losses as bargain-seeking investors bought the dip in chip stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 0.57%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.72%, or 246 points, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.43%.
Tech was slightly down after recovering from a more than 1% drop intraday as battered chip stocks attracted dip-buying helping to steady the overall sector.
The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) was up more than 1%, led by Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL), II-VI (NASDAQ:IIVI) and Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) leading the charge.
Analog Devices climbed more than 3% after reporting first-quarter results that topped analysts' estimates.
Mega-cap tech, meanwhile, also pared some of their losses.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) were well off their intraday lows.
The dip-buying in tech, however, appears to come at the expense of the economically-sensitive cyclicals corners of the market like energy, financials and materials.
Energy was among biggest losers on the day as oil prices fell more than 2% despite data showing a smaller-than-expected build in weekly U.S. crude stocks.
Crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.3 million barrels for the week to May 14, a lower build than the 1.6 million barrels economists had forecast.
On the earnings front, Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ:TTWO) reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates, sending its share price up more than 5%.
Target (NYSE:TGT) was also up more than 5% after its first-quarter results beat on both the top and bottom lines.
In the midst of the selloff in crypto that has since abated - sparked by a regulatory crackdown on Bitcoin in China and broader risk-off sentiment in crypto markets during recent days - stocks including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Square and MicroStrategy were under pressure.
Investor attention is expected to monetary policy, with release of the Federal Reserve minutes from its April meeting due at 2PM ET.