Traders work as the market opens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 18, 2025 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Stocks fell again on Tuesday after tech shares continued to slide on concern about valuations of artificial intelligence-related stocks and as bitcoin dropped briefly below $90,000, a sign of reduced risk-taking by investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 584 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 shed 1.1%, putting it on pace for its fourth straight losing session, which would be its longest slide since August. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.7%.

AI chip darling Nvidia fell 2%. Fellow "Magnificent Seven" members Amazon and Microsoft also came under pressure. Nvidia has fallen 10% this month leading up to the chipmaker's third-quarter results due after Wednesday's close. The company, which is reporting toward the end of a strong earnings season, has been at the center of a debate about the strength of the AI-powered market rally this year, as concerns have grown about pricey tech valuations and the soundness of AI fundamentals due to a boom in Big Tech debt offerings.

A big AI partnership announced Tuesday failed to lift related stocks like such deals have in the past. AI-startup Anthropic said it will spend $30 billion with Microsoft and, in turn, Microsoft and Nvidia will invest billions in Anthropic. Nvidia and Microsoft remained deep in the red following the deal.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told the BBC that part of today's AI boom did have some "irrationality" and that no company "is going to be immune" if the bubble burst.

Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 on Tuesday, continuing its slide from a record $126,000 reached in early October. Many tech investors also have large cryptocurrency holdings so the decline raised worries that a bigger stock market drop may follow. Bitcoin was last trading just above $91,000.

Outside of tech, Home Depot shares declined after the home improvement reported an earnings miss and cutting its full-year outlook.

The three major U.S. indexes closed in the red in the previous trading session. The 30-stock Dow dropped more than 550 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each lost around 0.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is on pace to snap its seven-month win streak, while the S&P 500 is down 2.5% in November after rallying for six months in a row.

"The market narrative has certainly shifted dramatically over the past few weeks, as the market's reaction function with respect to AI has taken a sharp left turn from rewarding ever-growing capex spend to rapidly growing skepticism of further investment and future returns," said Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. "Pair that with crowded positioning across real money and systematic accounts and you've got all the ingredients for a sharp de-risking and an accompanying narrative reset."

Adding to the angst this month is growing concern that the Federal Reserve won't cut rates for a third time in December. Fed funds futures traders are pricing in roughly a 50% chance of a cut, significantly lower than the more than 90% chance priced in a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Investors are counting on the Fed to revive the economy and keep rates low to justify higher equity valuations. The Fed's October meeting minutes and September nonfarm payrolls release are on deck for Wednesday and Thursday releases, respectively.