NEW YORK - US stocks fell on Tuesday as Wall Street leaders voiced growing caution about lofty valuations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 251.44 points, or 0.53 percent, to 47,085.24. The S&P 500 declined 80.42 points, or 1.17 percent, to 6,771.55, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 486.09 points, or 2.04 percent, to 23,348.64.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with technology and consumer discretionary down 2.27 percent and 1.85 percent, respectively. Financials and consumer staples led the gainers, rising 0.55 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively.

Wall Street leaders voiced growing caution about overheated valuations. "Corporate earnings are strong, but what's challenging are valuations," said Mike Gitlin, president and CEO of Capital Group, at a financial summit.

His sentiment was echoed by Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who warned of a possible correction and noted that pullbacks are a normal part of market cycles. "We should also welcome the possibility that there would be drawdowns, 10 to 15 percent drawdowns that are not driven by some sort of macro cliff effect," said Pick.

On Tuesday, Oracle fell 3.75 percent, while chipmaker AMD dropped 3.7 percent. Other major AI-related stocks, including Nvidia and Amazon, also retreated.