US STOCKS-Slide in growth stocks pummel Nasdaq, Powell testimony underway

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* Fed's Powell says support for economy needed for "some
time"
* Growth stocks resume slide
* Tesla falls as bitcoin sell-off weighs
* Home Depot slips on unclear consumer spending outlook
* Indexes fall: Dow 0.58%, S&P 1.05%, Nasdaq 2.43%

(Updates to open)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq index fell more than 2% on
Tuesday as investors sold off mega-cap growth stocks on
valuation concerns, while keeping a close eye on Federal Reserve
Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony in Congress.
Shares of Netflix Inc NFLX.O , Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O ,
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Apple Inc
AAPL.O slipped between 1.5% and 3.5% in early trading.
"There's definitely an assumption that inflation has crept
and bled through and we are starting to see some impact of that
assumption in the growth style of investing," said Keith
Buchanan, portfolio manager at GlobAlt in Atlanta.
"It's hard to imagine a scenario in which there's upside to
the larger broader market if those large cap growth stocks don't
lead the way."
The Nasdaq .IXIC fell to its lowest in nearly a month
moments after the opening bell, and is now set to post its
biggest two-day loss since early September.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading in the
red, with consumer discretionary .SPLRCD , technology .SPLRCT
and communication services .SPLRCL among the top three
decliners.
Powell said the U.S. economic recovery remains "uneven and
far from complete" and it will be "some time" before the Fed
considers changing policies it adopted to help the country back
to full employment.
The Fed chief appeared before the Senate Banking Committee
for the first time since Democrats won the White House and
control of both chambers of Congress. Value stocks .IVX , which are poised to benefit from an
economic rebound, have outperformed growth shares .IGX in
February.
A slump in bitcoin BTC=BTSP hurt shares of Tesla Inc
TSLA.O , which had invested $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency
recently. The electric-vehicle maker tumbled 6.6% and was set to
plunge into the red for the year. Cryptocurrency miners Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT.O and
Marathon Patent Group Inc MARA.O plunged more than 22.0% each,
while bitcoin bank Silvergate Capital Corp SI.N slid 22.7%.
At 10:18 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 184.17 points, or 0.58%, at 31,337.52, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 40.54 points, or 1.05%, at 3,835.96, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 329.36 points, or 2.43%, at
13,203.69.
Home Depot Inc HD.N fell 5.8% after the home improvement
retailer warned it was unable to predict how consumer spending
would evolve this year. Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY.N dropped 1.5% after the oil
producer posted a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.20-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 5.77-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 109 new highs and 50 new lows.