U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow ending in positive territory as oil prices fell and investors awaited earnings reports and guidance from a batch of big tech companies scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Investors also looked forward to the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates when officials meet for the FOMC meeting this week.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.5%, or 262.83 points, to end at 52,210.08 points.
The S&P 500 rose just 0.02%, or 3.68 points, to close at 7,413.18 points. Communication services, consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks were the biggest gainers, while energy, tech and utilities stocks were the worst performers.
The Information Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) declined 0.9%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 2.1%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) lost 1.3%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) gained 1.5%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) each added 1.3%. Seven of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.2%, to finish at 24,932.08 points.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), was up 0.48% to 18.67. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the S&P 500 by a 1.19-to-1 ratio. A total of 15.8 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 18.2 billion.
On the S&P 500, there were 30 new 52-week highs and three new lows.
Tech Selloff Continues
The tech selloff continued on Monday, led by a decline in chip stocks. Semiconductor stocks initially rallied after Chinese chipmaker CXMT recorded a blockbuster IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
However, chip stocks took a hit following a report in The Information, citing sources familiar with the matter, that China is developing deep ultraviolet lithography machines used in semiconductor manufacturing. Shares of ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) declined 5.8% following the report.
Other chipmakers also suffered but pared some of the losses earlier in the trading session. Chip stocks have been suffering for a while as questions continue to grow about their sustainability. Investors grew uneasy last week after quarterly earnings from Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) and Alphabet, Inc (GOOGL) showed that the companies continued to spend heavily on AI.
Investors are now looking forward to quarterly and full-year guidance from some big tech companies like Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Meta Platforms Inc. (META) that are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. META has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Oil Prices Fall
Oil prices fell on Monday to a one-week low after President Donald Trump said that there are chances of a peace deal with Iran as Washington was having “good talks” with Tehran. However, he also warned that the United States could resume attacks on Iran if negotiations failed.
International benchmark Brent crude futures for September delivery settled at $88.36 per barrel, down 8.7%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures ended at $82.61 per barrel, down 7.5%.
Investors are also looking forward to the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting, wherein officials will make a decision on interest rates on Wednesday. The Fed is likely to hike interest rates in September, but markets are pricing in a hike in interest rates as soon as this week, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Economic Data
In economic data released on Monday, the Census Bureau reported that U.S.-manufactured durable goods orders rose 0.3% to $334.77 billion, sharply lower than the consensus estimate of a rise of 1.6%.
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