US markets decline as banking, chip stocks fall; Bank of America fined $1.2 billion

Wall Street ended in the negative territory on Tuesday amid decline in chip stocks and mixed earnings from big US banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.35% to 51,670.10, while the S&P 500 ended flat at 7,805.45, down 0.02%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite descended 0.15% to 27,204.38.

Micron Technology shares slid 3.62%, and Applied Materials Inc lost 6.69%. SK Hynix fell 3.19%, Western Digital shed 1.61% and Sandisk declined 0.34%.

US banking stocks were under pressure. JPMorgan Chase shares fell nearly 1% after the company's third quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations. However, it raised its net interest income (NII) guidance for 2026.

Wells Fargo shares were down 3.1% after its NII ⁠missed estimates.

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup dropped 0.2% and 5.6%, respectively, even after their earnings surpassed expectations.

Johnson & Johnson, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Flex, Domino's Pizza, KKR & Co, SpaceX, Blackstone, Cadence Design Systems, Take-Two Interactive Software and Boeing, among others, were among top losers.

CDW Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Meta Platforms, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, Salesforce, Visa, IMB and First Solar, among others, ended in green.

Bank of America fined $1.2 billion

Bank of America shares will be in focus on Wednesday after the US Treasury Department imposed $1.2 billion in fines on the multinational bank for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.

"When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire US financial system to significant illicit finance risks. Today's actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Treasury also said that BoA reached an $11.6 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control in relation to "apparent violations of numerous sanctions programmes, including on Iran, Russia, narcotics, and global terrorism."