U.S. stocks fall ahead of big tech earning results

Stocks in the United States fall from record highs on Tuesday as investors anticipated earnings reports from the world's largest technology companies.

The S&P 500 plummeted 0.6 %, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.3 % or around 130 points. The Nasdaq Composite, which is heavily weighted toward technology, fell 1.41%.

The four largest U.S. companies by market value, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon Com Inc, and Google-parent Alphabet Inc fell between 1 % and 2.3 % and were the main drags on the S&P and the Nasdaq.

Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft will disclose Q2 earnings after the market closes, while Amazon will report on Thursday.

U.S. stocks have been steadily rising as investors lauded solid corporate earnings and a positive outlook from some of the country's top corporations. At the same time, worries remain about the Delta-variant of Covid-19, supply-chain issues, a surge in inflation, and slowing economic development, WSJ reported. 

Facebook Inc which is due to announce results on Wednesday, fell 1.6 %.

Investors are also waiting for additional clues from the Federal Reserve on when it plans to start winding down its huge stimulus program, which begins with a two-day meeting on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Visa Inc and Starbucks Corp will also report earnings, making it a big day in the earnings season.

Defensive sectors including real estate and utilities outperformed the S&P 500 on Tuesday.

In bond markets, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield fell to 1.239 % from 1.276 % on Monday.

According to Refinitiv data, 153 S&P 500 companies have reported results so far, with 88.9 % above forecasts.

Tesla Inc dropped 2.07 % as concerns about manufacturing being hampered by a chip shortage outweighed better-than-expected second-quarter profit.

General Electric Co. gained around 1.5 % after increasing its yearly free cash flow projection as the company warned that inflationary pressures are expected to worsen throughout the year, notably in its jet-engine division.

United Parcel Service slumped 7 % after average daily delivery volume decreased compared to a year ago when the pandemic kept customers at home.

Overseas, the Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.5%. The Hang Seng Index plummeted 4.2 %, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.49 %.