US stocks fall as rising bond yields pressure tech amid easing banking sector fears

• US stocks fall Tuesday, leaving the S&P 500 lower after three days of gains.
• The 2-year Treasury yield pushed back above 4%, pressuring tech stocks.
• "I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards for firms over $100 billion," a top Fed official told senators at a hearing about SVB.

US stocks finished in the red Tuesday as tech shares bore the brunt of rising bond yields amid easing turmoil within the banking sector.

The tech-concentrated Nasdaq Composite put in the worst performance among key indexes. The S&P 500 fell for the first time in four sessions, with the Information Technology sector a main drag.

Tech stocks were stung by a rise in the 2-year Treasury yield, pushing above 4% for the first time in nearly a week. Higher yields slice into the value of future profit for tech and other growth companies.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 3,971.23, down 0.16%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,394.25, down 0.12% (37.83 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,716.08, down 0.45%

Bond yields rose as some measure of calm settled over the banking industry after developments on Monday. First Citizens reached a deal to acquire $72 billion of assets of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank for a $16.5 billion discount. Also easing fears was a Bloomberg report over the weekend that the government may offer more support to banks partially to help First Republic further stabilize.

But investors, lawmakers, and regulators are still assessing the fallout from this month's implosion of SVB.

"A review will consider whether the supervisory warnings were sufficient and whether supervisors had sufficient tools to escalate," Michael Barr, the Fed's vice-chair for supervision, told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. "I anticipate the need to strengthen capital and liquidity standards for firms over $100 billion," which would have included SVB.

Barr called SVB a "textbook case of mismanagement."

Here's what else is happening today:

• A large global sell-off last week was likely sparked by a single trade in Deutsche Bank's credit-default swaps.
• Markets are incorrectly anticipating rate cuts from the Fed this year, BlackRock says
• Economist Mohamed El-Erian warns of more economic pain coming as the SVB fallout is likely not contained.
• Why the struggles of mid-sized US banks could be bad news for the Main Street economy.
• People are running to money-market funds - here are the 8 currently offering the highest yields
• "Bond King" Jeffrey Gundlach warned a US recession will hit in a few months - and outlined what stock investors should do.
• Binance boss CZ showed what he thinks of the CFTC's trading violations lawsuit with an enigmatic tweet.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 0.3% at $73.39 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 0.8% to $78.79.
• Gold gained 1.1% to $1,975.70 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose two basis points to 3.55%.
• Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $27,231.10.