These S&P 500 stocks are falling the hardest on Tuesday

By Philip van Doorn

Stocks of gold miners and computer-memory makers were hit especially hard, while Best Buy led the S&P 500 with a gain after its earnings report

Investors had a delayed reaction to the weekend attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, sending the S&P 500 down more than 2% early on Tuesday.

Investors on Tuesday had a sour reaction to the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran, sending stock indexes down sharply during the first few minutes of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 1,117 points (or 2.3%) in early trading to 47,787.55, while the S&P 500 SPX was down 2.1% and the Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) was down 2.3%.

MarketWatch Live: Stock Market Today: Dow drops over 1,000 points, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both down 2% as investors digest spreading Middle East war; Treasury yields rise as oil price surges

Gold (GC00) was down 4.7% to $5,068.60 an ounce, based on Continuous front-month contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Read: What 28 years of hot inflation say about gold's ability to be a hedge

Front-month contracts for West Texas Crude Oil (CL00) were up 7.6% to $76.64 a barrel.

More: Oil prices surge to highest in a year as fears of Middle East supply crunch grow

Among the components of the S&P 500, 95% of stocks were down in early trading, with 67 down at least 4.0%.

Here are the 20 components of the S&P 500 that were down the most early in the trading session:

   Company                            Intraday price change on March 3  Price change since Feb. 27  Year-to-date price changeIndustry 
   Albemarle                                                    -10.0%                      -10.2%                      13.4%Specialty chemicals 
   Freeport-McMoRan                                              -8.9%                       -8.7%                      22.4%Specialty mining & metals 
   Newmont                                                       -8.9%                       -9.8%                      17.5%gold 
   Western Digital                                               -8.3%                      -11.5%                      43.7%Computer hardware 
   NRG Energy                                                    -8.1%                       -9.8%                       1.4%Electric utilities 
   Blackstone                                                    -8.0%                       -6.4%                     -31.2%Investment management & fund operators 
   Corning                                                       -7.3%                       -2.7%                      67.2%Electronic equipment & parts 
   Micron Technology                                             -7.3%                       -7.2%                      34.1%Semiconductors 
   Sandisk                                                       -7.1%                       -9.5%                     142.2%Computer hardware 
   Teradyne                                                      -7.0%                       -5.4%                      56.5%Semiconductor equipment & testing 
   Vistra                                                        -7.0%                      -11.3%                      -4.3%Electric utilities 
   Intel                                                         -6.5%                       -6.8%                      15.2%Semiconductors 
   Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings                                -6.4%                      -16.3%                      -7.0%Hotels, motels & Cruise lines 
   Ciena                                                         -6.4%                       -5.1%                      41.6%Communications & networking 
   Seagate Technology Holdings                                   -6.3%                      -12.8%                      29.2%Computer hardware 
   Apollo Global Management                                      -5.8%                       -4.2%                     -30.7%Pension funds 
   GE Vernova                                                    -5.7%                       -4.9%                      27.1%Electric utilities 
   Ares Management                                               -5.7%                       -4.6%                     -33.9%Investment management & fund operators 
   Steel Dynamics                                                -5.7%                       -1.6%                      12.2%Iron & steel 
   Viatris                                                       -5.4%                       -0.5%                      19.3%Pharmaceuticals 
                                                                                                                                                         Source: LSEG 

The small number of stocks in the S&P 500 showing gains early on Tuesday was led by Best Buy (BBY), which was up 6% after the electronics retailer reported mixed quarterly results.

Click on the tickers for more about each company.

Read: Tomi Kilgore's detailed guide to the information available on the MarketWatch quote page

Don't miss: Boeing's stock stands out in this screen of aerospace and defense investments

-Philip van Doorn

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03-03-26 1041ET