The Fearless Girl statue faces the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Stocks are easing higher on Wall Street in early trading Monday, Aug. 30, 2021 keeping major indexes near the record highs they set last week. Big Tech companies had some of the strongest gains in the early going. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
By Damian J. Troise
Gains for several Big Tech stocks helped push the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite to more record highs on Wall Street Monday, even as weakness elsewhere in the market sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average and small-company stocks lower.
The S&P 500 also set a record high last Friday after investors welcomed an update from the Federal Reserve. In a speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell helped ease concerns that a key factor in the market’s solid gains this year, low interest rates, will remain that way as the economy continues recovering from the pandemic.
“When you look at it, the impression is things are good and Powell essentially said he’s not the one who’s going to take the punch bowl away,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network.
Markets have been choppy in recent weeks as investors tried to gauge how much and how quickly the Fed will ease its support.
The S&P 500 added 19.42, or 0.4%, to close at 4,528.79 The Dow fell 55.96 points, or 0.2%, to 35,399.84 and the Nasdaq composite rose 136.39 points, or 0.9%, to 15,265.89.
The Russell 2000 index of small company stocks lost 10.70 points, or 0.5%, to 2,266.80. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs.
Technology stocks, which benefit from low interest rates, did much of the heavy lifting for the broader market. Apple rose 3%, while Amazon and Facebook each rose more than 2%.
Health care companies also had solid gains and helped lift the benchmark S&P 500. Banks stocks, which would benefit from higher rates, were the biggest drag on the overall market. Wells Fargo lost 2.8%.
Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.28% from 1.31% late Friday.
Energy prices were mixed as the the full impact of Hurricane Ida is still being assessed. The storm will likely take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast, but the impact on the overall U.S. economy should be modest so long as damage estimates don’t rise sharply and refinery shutdowns are not prolonged, economists suggested.
Crude oil prices rose 0.6%, while natural gas prices slumped 1.5% as Colonial Pipeline shut down deliveries in the south until it can assess damage from the storm.
Deal news helped lift several stocks. Affirm soared 46.7% after the payments company announced a deal last week with Amazon to offer shoppers a buy-now-pay-later option that doesn’t involve credit cards. Hill-Rom Holdings jumped 9.7% following reports that Baxter International is interested in buying the medical technology company.
Investors have several key economic reports to look forward to this week, including consumer confidence on Tuesday and the closely watched monthly employment survey from the Labor Department on Friday. Both could help investors better gauge the economic recovery's path as it faces some resistance from a surge in virus cases because of the more contagious delta variant.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
