U.S. Stocks Rebound Slightly After Tech-Driven Slump

FRANKFURT, Germany — Stocks in the United States were up slightly Tuesday morning after a tough day on Wall Street had sent the S&P 500 down more than 10 percent from its recent peak.

Major global indexes followed Wall Street’s cue, trading mostly down Tuesday, though they were largely spared Monday’s pain. European stocks were down less than 1 percent in midafternoon trading, and stocks in Asia finished the day mixed.

Investors around the world have recently been reacting to the same set of uncertainties, including growing concern over the prospect of a full-blown trade war between the United States and China.

The recent downswing came on the heels of an extended period of calm in the markets. They have risen over the past couple of years as the economies of the United States, Europe and China appeared to be humming along together at a healthy clip for the first time in years.

And the markets are still up more than 20 percent since November 2016, when Donald Trump won the presidency — a roller-coaster ride driven in part by expectations about what his administration could bring to Washington.

But after such a long run-up, many investors have naturally begun to wonder how much longer the good times will last.

“We think the time has come to reassess the one-way bet on a continued and strengthening global economic expansion,” Carl B. Weinberg, chief international economist at High Frequency Economics in White Plains, New York, said in a note to clients Tuesday.

Monday’s slump in the United States, however, had another driver that world markets did not: big-name technology companies.

Amazon, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft and Tesla were among the major contributors to Monday’s stock slump on Wall Street. Amazon faces pressure from Trump, while Facebook continues to grapple with privacy concerns and Tesla has been hit by a succession of negative headlines.

Tech shares were among the worst performers in other markets too, such as China, Hong Kong and Japan, though the world’s biggest technology companies primarily trade in the United States — in part to reach global investors.

Shares of Alibaba, a Chinese online retailer, joined the U.S. tech rout Monday, falling more than 3 percent, while shares of Chinese search company Baidu fell more than 1 percent.

The woes of tech companies may even be positive for some European companies. Tesla’s battery powered cars and self-driving technology were a threat to European luxury carmakers such as BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen’s Audi unit, which remain heavily invested in internal combustion engines.

But Tesla has had trouble ramping up production fast enough to meet demand, and its vehicles have suffered quality problems. On Tuesday, the company reported a significant increase in the production of its Model 3 sedans in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter, though it failed to meet previously announced production targets. The company’s difficulties have added credence to the argument that German carmakers have made all along: Mass producing cars is hard, and it will not be easy for new challengers to match the expertise of traditional carmakers.

Still, shares of German carmakers were mixed in European trading Tuesday, as the likes of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen depend heavily on sales in Asia and would suffer from any economic turmoil there.