In this March 23, 2021 file photo, pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
Technology and energy companies led stocks lower on Wall Street Monday, easing the market back from its recent all-time highs.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, erasing an early gain. Technology companies accounted for a big share of the decline. Industrial and consumer-centric stocks also fell. Those losses outweighed gains in health care companies, banks and elsewhere in the market.
Energy companies slumped the most among S&P 500 stocks as the price of benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 2.6% to its lowest levels since May. The move lower follows a decline of 7.7% last week. Occidental Petroleum shed 3%.
Every major index was coming off weekly gains last week, which ended with record highs for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The modest pullback is another example of the volatility the market has seen amid uncertainty over the impact COVID-19 variants will have on the economy and the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy moves, said Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs.
“People who got in and saw some of the stocks that they hold at all-time highs on Friday, perhaps they’re selling a little bit off today and might be opportunistically trading some of this volatility,” she said.
The S&P 500 fell 4.17 points to 4,432.35. The Dow dropped 106.66 points, or 0.3%, to 35,101.85. The Nasdaq added 24.42 points, or 0.2%, to 14,860.18.
Smaller companies fell more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index lost 12.95 points, or 0.6%, to 2,234.81.
Bond yields moved higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.32% from 1.28% late Friday. Bond yields tend to move with expectations for the economy and for inflation.
The latest round of corporate earnings is winding down, and nearly 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their latest results. The reports have been mostly solid. Tyson Foods jumped 8.7% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 Monday after handily beating Wall Street's profit forecasts.
Investors are also closely watching the world's reaction to the latest surge of the coronavirus. Some governments have reimposed limits on business and travel. China canceled flights as it tries to stop a rash of outbreaks. Australia’s two most populous states have told people to stay home except to go to work or for a handful of other reasons.
Analysts expect the U.S. and global economies to continue growing, but have cautioned that the resurgent virus could slow down the pace.
“That's one part of the story and that could be holding back" the stock market, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds. “We don't really have a handle on how bad the delta variant might get.”
Investors have been taking in a steady stream of encouraging economic reports. The latest from the Labor Department shows that U.S. employers posted a record 10.1 million job openings in June. That follows Friday's report that the economy generated 943,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4% from 5.9% in June.
The solid jobs figures also raise some concerns about wage inflation and the pace of economic growth.
“We’re burning our way back to full employment fast," Kelly said. “Once we get there the economy is going to slow down.”
The latest figures also raise concerns about inflation fueled by the improving job market, as employers are potentially forced to raise wages to fill jobs.
Investors will get another piece of data on inflation when the Labor Department releases its consumer price index for July on Wednesday. Wall Street is still trying to gauge how much inflation might rise as the economy recovers and whether that will push the Federal Reserve to trim back its support for the economy sooner than expected.
Major indexes Europe edged lower while indexes in Asia ended mixed.
Career opportunity platform Guild raised $175 million in a Series F round led by Wellington Management. Global media icon Oprah Winfrey also participated in the round, which comes just months after Guild was named one of Time's most influential companies. Guild partners with employers to help them offer education opportunities to their employees. Customers include some of the biggest companies in the world, including Walmart, Pepsi, and Disney. The startup's funding comes amid a historically tight labor market, with demand for workers remaining strong across the country. Rachel Romer Carlson, Co-Founder and CEO of Guild, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Day two of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee are underway on Friday in the United Kingdom, as the country continues to honor the monarch's 70 years on the throne. While most of the attention is on the Queen, brands around the world are also hoping to use the cultural moment to get the attention of consumers with limited-edition Jubilee-themed products. The Centre for Retail Research estimated consumers will spend the equivalent of $510 million on Jubilee-related expenses throughout the celebration this weekend. Hilary Fordwich, global business analyst and British royals commentator, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Kathryn Minshew, CEO and Founder of The Muse, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she provides her insight as to which sectors are looking strong from a hiring perspective and says that job-seekers still have plenty of bargaining power given the current employment situation.
Walmart, which last month reported lackluster earnings, is making a big bet on enhancing its warehouse technology. The big box giant will open new facilities that use automation in order to fill more orders and deliver them within a competitive timeframe, like same-day or two-day delivery in order to compete with e-commerce king Amazon. Will these efforts give Walmart an advantage, and maybe even help it beat Amazon in multiple categories? Arun Sundaram, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Major business leaders are taking in the current U.S. economic backdrop — including inflation and a first-quarter GDP contraction — and voicing pessimistic outlooks about what the economy will do. Meanwhile, the question on everyone's mind is still whether or not we will enter a recession, and when. Mike 'Mish' Shedlock, an investment advisor at Sitka Pacific Capital Management, says on Closing Bell that business leaders aren't anxious enough, and that it's likely the U.S. will enter a recession early in the third quarter of this year.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp is partnering with eye-drop brand Pataday to help those struggling with allergies — such as himself. The Super Bowl LVI MVPjoined Cheddar News to discuss his own struggle with seasonal allergies. “It's right when football's starting back up, I feel like I get so excited to finally be back playing the game, and then, you know, spring comes around and completely knocks me out," he said.
After a week of changes including a ticker change and longtime COO Sheryl Sandberg stepping down, Meta's future may seem uncertain. Cheddar News anchors Kristen Scholer and Ken Buffa broke it all down a the stock dropped around 4 percent on Friday amid a flurry of speculation around the company formerly known as Facebook.
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
Buy now, pay later — or point-of-sales loans — might be making it difficult to get a handle on your credit. These companies typically do not report payment history during transactions, so without this data going to credit scoring companies, it makes it difficult to know how many loans a customer still needs to pay. Experts are recommend paying off these debts as soon as possible.
