Tesla Stock Trades Lower Premarket: What’s Weighing Down On EV Giant Today

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares fell in premarket trading on Tuesday after rallying over 6% in the previous session.

Sentiment appears to have reversed course, as the stock is left to contend with a few negative catalysts. Data released from China showed that weekly insurance registrations for Tesla electric vehicles fell 6.8% week-over-week to 12,300 units in the week ended March 17, CnEVPost reported. So far this month, Tesla sold 31,000 units, going by the insurance registrations data.

China is a key market for Tesla and softness in the country does not bode well for the EV giant as it prepares to report its first-quarter deliveries in about two weeks. Analysts fear sales will fall short of the consensus expectations and have been reducing their estimates.

Tesla shares could also take a hit from the broader market weakness, with the futures trading pointing to a negative open on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve led by Jerome Powell is widely expected to keep rates unchanged on Wednesday but traders will sift through the post-meeting policy statement, the dot-plot curve and Powell’s testimony to get a sense of where rates are headed in the near-term. As such, the Fed rates stand at a 22-year high of 5.25%-5.50%.

A higher interest-rate environment is negative for growth stocks such as Tesla.

In premarket, Tesla fell 1.04% at $172, according to Benzinga Pro data.