$QQQ - Nasdaq Plunges More than 2% - Stock Market Risks Are Elevated (/NQ Futures)

Stock Market Selling in Big Tech and other high-growth stocks kept the major market indexes under pressure on Tuesday and more than erased the S&P 500′s strong start to the month on Monday.

The broad market index fell about 1.2%, while pressure on some of the globe’s largest technology companies sent the Nasdaq Composite down 2.6%.

Apple, the largest publicly traded company in the U.S., fell more than 4%. Google-parent Alphabet lost more than 3%, Facebook shed 2.8% and electric car maker Tesla dropped 3%. Investors did not spare the market’s chipmakers, with Nvidia, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices losing 4.5%, 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points, or about 0.3%, as Salesforce and Boeing dragged on the blue chips.

Reasons for the downward pressure varied, but strategists cited a mix of concerns about rising inflation, fears the Federal Reserve may have to taper monetary stimulus earlier than telegraphed, and the potential for tax increases in the months ahead.

U.S. equities hit their lows of the day following Treasury Secretary Yellen’s comments that interest rates may have to rise somewhat to keep economy from overheating. Evercore ISI strategist Dennis DeBusschere wrote that while Tuesday’s modest move in rates may not be a loud siren that investors are worried about the Fed, he nonetheless believes taper fears are playing a role. – CNBC