Wall Street's major indexes lost ground on Tuesday as investors moved out of market-leading growth stocks, though a rotation into cyclical value stocks indicated hopes of economic revival as states began to relax restrictions enacted to fight the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

While technology stocks pulled all three major U.S. stock indexes into the red, they all remained within 20% of their February all-time highs.

"The stock market today is about money coming out of tech and going into economically sensitive value stocks, where prices have suffered the most," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. "The sense that states are opening up and the economy is beginning to grow again is causing this rotation."

Smaller companies have fared better than larger ones in recent days, as they stand to benefit more from the state-by-state easing of shutdown restrictions. The Russell 2000 , which tracks small-cap companies, posted its fifth straight advance.

But with U.S. coronavirus cases topping 1 million, a predictive model often cited by White House officials warned the country's death toll could climb higher than previously projected if states reopen prematurely.

First-quarter earnings season has shifted into high gear, with S&P 500 earnings now expected to be down 14.8% from a year ago, a dramatic U-turn from the 6.3% year-on-year growth seen on Jan. 1, according to Refinitiv data.

The U.S. Federal Reserve convenes its two-day monetary policy meeting to contend with crushing joblessness and an ailing economy.

Consumer confidence plunged in April, with the 'current conditions' component suffering its largest drop ever, according to the Conference Board.

"As long as the economy doesn't open up too quickly and cause the infection rate to increase, it seems like the virus has peaked and is perhaps on the decline, giving the consumer hope that the economy will get going again," Ghriskey added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.23 points, or 0.13%, to 24,101.55, the S&P 500 lost 15.09 points, or 0.52%, to 2,863.39 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 122.43 points, or 1.4%, to 8,607.73.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, seven closed in the black, led by energy and materials.

Healthcare stocks dropped 2.1%. Merck & Co warned of a $2.1 billion hit to its 2020 revenue. The drugmaker's shares dropped 3.3%.

3M Co, manufacturer of highly sought-after N95 protective masks, reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its shares up 2.6%.

Harley-Davidson Inc shares jumped 15.2% after the motorcycle maker took steps to boost cash reserves to contend with dropping demand due to lockdowns.

PepsiCo rose 1.4%, benefiting from rising snack demand due to stay-at-home orders.

Following after-the-bell quarterly reports, Alphabet Inc shares rose by more than 3%, Starbucks Corp dipped 1.7%, and Ford Motor Co was down more than 6% in after-hours trading.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.38-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 2 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.31 billion shares, compared with the 11.31 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Stock markets across the globe managed to rise, riding out sharp swings on Wall Street as mixed corporate earnings results and dramatic moves in oil prices delivered yet another dose of investor jitters.

Conflicting measures and warnings on the coronavirus pandemic cast an uneasy tone.

Plans to ease major economies out of coronavirus lockdowns were continuing even as experts issued fresh warnings against reopening too soon. A predictive model showed the outbreak could take more than 74,000 U.S. lives by August, compared with an earlier forecast of 67,000, if the lockdown were to be lifted too early.

"There seems to be a conflict of opinion about the proper course of action," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey. "More insights back the belief that opening up early is not the best course of action right now, because if we do and if we get a relapse, then the next wave could even be worse."

Germany's coronavirus infection rate has edged up from earlier this month and people should stay at home as much as they can despite a lockdown relaxation last week, the head of an institute for infectious diseases said.

Reassuring UBS earnings lifted European banks nearly 5%, while Wall Street digested upbeat numbers from industrial conglomerate 3M Co, a maker of N95 respirator masks, and drugmaker Pfizer.

U.S. crude futures endured a day of wild trading, rising as much as 7% and falling 20%. BP's quarterly profit tumbled by two-thirds and its debt climbed to its highest on record. The energy major maintained its dividend despite warning of exceptional uncertainty, and its shares rose 2.6%.

Investors are gearing up for one of the busiest weeks for tech earnings, including reports from Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and eBay.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.68%, and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.61%.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.98%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.61% higher, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.06%.

Oil prices were mixed with Brent hinging on sentiment about the easing of lockdowns, while U.S. crude traders remained cautious as storage capacities were filling up fast.

U.S. crude recently fell 0.16% to $12.76 per barrel, and Brent was at $20.65, up 3.3% on the day.

"While wild price swings are set to last in the very near term, we see more upside than downside from prices around $20 per barrel. The oil price should recover in the longer term," said Norbert Rücker, analyst at Swiss bank Julius Baer.

Petrocurrencies were whiplashed, too. Canada's dollar and the Norwegian crown both recovered from early falls, with the crown gaining as much as 1.5%.

Russia's rouble bounced back as much as 0.6%, while Brazil's battered real strengthened 1.3% along with other emerging market currencies.

The dollar dropped against a basket of peers. The dollar index fell 0.247%, with the euro up 0.08% to $1.0837.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.38% versus the greenback at 106.86 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2447, up 0.15% on the day.

Sweden's central bank opted not to take its interest rates back into negative territory on Tuesday, sending its currency up 1.6% against the dollar.

Markets are looking for any forward guidance from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is due to issue a policy statement at the close of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday.

Analysts said it was unlikely the Fed would make further major policy moves, given the scope and depth of its recent action to counter the economic damage caused by the novel coronavirus.

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 17/32 in price to yield 0.6019%, from 0.654% late on Monday.

Spot gold dropped 0.4% to $1,706.93 an ounce.