THE Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed lower on Monday, retreating from Friday’s record high closes and six straight weekly gains as Treasury yields rose and investors wary of high valuations awaited earnings from major companies.
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“It’s not at all unusual for the market to want to take a little bit of a breather after six weeks of continually record highs,” said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO Family Office.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 344.31 points, or 0.80%, to 42,931.60, the S&P 500 lost 10.69 points, or 0.18%, to 5,853.98. The Nasdaq Composite gained 50.45 points, or 0.27%, to 18,540.01, boosted by the chip heavyweight Nvidia, which rose 4.14% to close at a record high of $143.71.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury jumped as high as 4.17%, a 12-week high.
“The rise in the 10-year yield is causing confusion that maybe the economy is growing too rapidly and that employment remains too resilient,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “As a result, the Fed might end up being slower to lower interest rates.”
On Friday, the Dow and the S&P 500 both closed at record highs as all three major indexes posted a sixth consecutive week of gains, their longest winning streak this year.
Many rate-sensitive megacap technology stocks slipped. Tesla was down 0.84%.
After a fairly upbeat start to earnings season, the focus was on the 114 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report this week. These include Tesla, Coca-Cola and Texas Instruments.
Ahead of a busy week for earnings, some investors likely took some profits, according to analysts. David Laut, chief investment officer at Abound Financial, said the market was looking at how stretched valuations are.
Of companies that have reported so far, 83.1% beat earnings estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG on Friday.
Monday’s declines were broad, with almost all 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the red.
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The rate-sensitive Real Estate sector dropped 2.08% as yields rose, while the technology sector was lifted by the jump in Nvidia.
The economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 1.61%.
Investors also looked ahead to the U.S. presidential election, with polls showing chances improving for former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate.
“As the election date approaches, even small changes in tight polls could drive seemingly erratic swings in market sentiment,” Danske Bank analysts said.
Boeing jumped 3.1% after news that workers could vote on a new deal to end a costly five-week strike.
Spirit Airlines skyrocketed 53.06% after the company reached an agreement to extend a debt refinancing deadline by two months.
Humana slipped 2.46% after a report said Cigna had resumed merger talks with the health insurer. Cigna’s shares also fell 4.69%.
Home sales, flash PMI and durable goods reports are on the data docket through the week, as is the Fed’s Beige Book.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.51-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 262 new highs and 47 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and two new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 89 new highs and 51 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.35 billion shares, compared with the 11.59 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
-Reuters
-TheStar