Stocks turned lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday as major indexes came off their best week since November 2020
Stocks fell on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, giving back some of their recent gains after the major indexes notched their best week since November 2020.
The S&P 500 was 0.7% lower as of 1:44 p.m. Eastern after spending much of the morning shifting between small gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 346 points, or 1%, to 34,408 and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%.
Big technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market. Microsoft fell 1.6% and Broadcom slid 2.8%.
Communication stocks, retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending also weighed on the market. Facebook parent, Meta Platforms, fell 3%, while Home Depot slid 3.5%.
Energy stocks made solid gains as oil prices gained ground. U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 4.8%, while Brent, the international standard, rose 5.9%. Exxon Mobil gained 4.4%.
Bond yields rose sharply. The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 2.29% from 2.14% late Friday.
Investors face a fairly quiet week without many economic data that could help give them a better sense of how companies and investors are dealing with rising inflation. Last week’s market rally came on the heels of the Federal Reserve announcing its first interest rate hike since 2018 as it tries to tame rising inflation. The central bank is expected to raise rates several more times this year.
The move had been expected for months as supply chain problems brought on by surging demand pushed prices of everything from food to clothing higher. That has raised concerns that consumers might eventually curtail some spending, which could prompt a more severe economic slowdown than analysts anticipate.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added to concerns that inflation could worsen by pushing energy and commodity prices higher. Oil prices are up more than 45% this year and prices for wheat and corn have also surged.
Outside of those broader concerns, several stocks made big moves on company-specific news. Alleghany, a reinsurance company, soared about 25% after agreeing to be bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Media rating agency Nielsen sank 7% after rejecting an acquisition offer.
Boeing fell 4.2% after one of its planes crashed in China with 132 people on board.
Markets in Europe were mixed. The FTSE 100 in London rose 0.5%, the DAX in Frankfurt fell 0.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.6%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained less than 0.1% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.9%. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.
Source: abcNEWS
