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Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened sharply lower on Monday as fears about rising interest rates were compounded by signs of increasing stress in some technology stocks.
By 9:35 AM ET (1435 GMT), Dow Jones futures were down 421 points, or 1.3% at 32,478 points. The S&P 500 was down 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.7%.
The mood was soured by the sight of early backers of electric van maker Rivian Automotive – an example of the ‘profitless tech’ sector that has come under the most pressure from the rising interest rate environment – reducing their holdings at a steep discount. Ford Motor (NYSE:F) reportedly sold some 8 million shares while another unnamed seller, thought by most to be Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), planned to sell another 12 million shares, both at a discount of around 6% to Friday’s closing level, according to CNBC. Ford itself fell 1.9%.
Rivian stock fell 13% to a new all-time low in the first minutes of trading, and has now lost over two-thirds of its value since listing only half a year ago.
Another stock to fall to an all-time low was cybersecurity and analytics company Palantir. Palantir missed estimates for first-quarter earnings and revenue and also guided lower for the second quarter. It said its operating margin will fall to 20% in the current quarter from 31% a year earlier due to heavy investment in expanding its sales force. Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) stock fell 22%.
Uber (NYSE:UBER) stock meanwhile fell to its lowest in over two years on reports that CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had warned staff of a “seismic” shift at the company to put more focus on generating free cash flow. An email reportedly sent to staff by Khosrowshahi hinted of heavy cost cuts and a further scaling back of investments which have only a long-term payoff. The stock pared its early losses to trade down 1.5%.
