Stocks decline, struggling for direction after tech-led rout

U.S. stocks turned lower Wednesday after the major equity indexes slid a day earlier, as concerns over inflation and global economic growth stirred up further volatility across risk assets.

The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq erased earlier gains to trade in the red. A day earlier, the S&P 500 dropped 2.8% on Tuesday for its largest decline in seven weeks, with technology shares especially slammed. The Nasdaq Composite sank 4% to fall to 12,490.74 — its lowest level since December 2020. With just three trading days left in April, the S&P 500 is tracking toward a monthly decline of 7.8%.

A tepid quarterly earnings season pressed on, and the Big Tech companies that reported earnings after market close on Tuesday produced mixed results. Microsoft shares rose after the company posted sales and earnings that exceeded estimates, fueled in part by further growth at its Azure cloud computing business. Alphabet, however, saw shares fall after posting a sharp deceleration in YouTube ad sales growth and missing on earnings, even as company-wide revenue came in-line with estimates. Peer ad-driven tech giant Meta Platforms is poised to report results Wednesday after market close.

The sell-off across U.S. stocks this week extended volatility seen so far in April and for the year-to-date, with investors continuing to monitor signs of elevated inflation and the further specter of supply chain strain as China grapples with an ongoing COVID-19 resurgence in key regions. And though the Federal…