NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock markets ended mixed on Monday after the latest signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 rose 5.89 points, or 0.1%, to 5,283.40 despite declines across most of the index’s stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.29 points, or 0.3%, to 38,571.03 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 93.65 points, or 0.6%, to 16,828.67.
Treasury yields also fell in the bond market after the Institute for Supply Management reported that U.S. manufacturing contracted for the 18th time in 19 months in May, a figure that has been hit particularly hard by high interest rates aimed at taming high inflation.
“Demand remains uncertain as current monetary policy and other factors make companies reluctant to invest,” said Timothy Fiore, chairman of the manufacturing research committee at the Institute for Supply Management.
Shares of companies whose profits are closely tied to the strength of the economy suffered the market’s worst declines, including in the oil and gas sector, where crude prices have plummeted on concerns that growth in fuel demand will slow.
Halliburton fell 5.3% and Exxon Mobil lost 2.4%. Both stocks fell as the price of a barrel of U.S. crude fell 3.5%. The international standard, Brent crude, fell by a similar amount despite weekend volatility. Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries The aim is to drive prices up.
Among the winners on Wall Street were several big technology stocks that continue to rise regardless of the economic climate.
NVIDIA After announcing new products and services over the weekend, the company’s gains this year rose another 4.9 percentage points to 132.2%. Huge profits Nvidia has been the biggest contributor to the S&P 500’s gains so far, as investors look to quell criticism that they’re getting too enthusiastic about the prospects for AI.
The gains were even bigger in another corner of Wall Street, accustomed to stomach-churning ups and downs.
GameStop 21% increase, Rocket launch in early 2021 that It shook Wall Street And it cemented the term “meme stock” into modern parlance.GameStop shares soared after a Reddit account linked to a central figure in the 2021 episode posted that the company held 5 million shares, plus options to buy more.The position was worth $181.4 million, according to a post Sunday night.
The post caused a stir online because it came from the same Reddit account that had posted similar screenshots of large GameStop holdings that helped send the struggling video game retailer’s stock price soaring in 2021 far beyond what many Wall Street critics called reasonable levels.
“Meme stocks” has become a catchphrase for companies whose shares are driven by the enthusiasm of small investors rather than any fundamental change in their business prospects. Other meme stocks also rose on Monday, including AMC Entertainment, up 11.1%.
In a more traditional move for the market, shares of Stericycle rose 14.6% after Waste Management said it would buy medical-waste treatment company Stericycle for $5.8 billion in cash and assume $1.4 billion in net debt. Waste Management shares fell 4.5%.
Hertz Global’s shares fell 5.3% after the company said its chief operating officer had stepped down and it had appointed a new chief financial officer.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.39% from 4.50% late on Friday. The yield on the two-year note, which more closely reflects expectations for Federal Reserve action, fell to 4.81% from 4.88%.
Investors are hoping that the U.S. economy will slow just enough to keep inflationary pressures in check, but not so much as to trigger a recession, which could allow the Federal Reserve to cut its key interest rates.
The Federal Reserve has kept the federal funds rate at its highest level in the last 20 years while intentionally slowing the economy and causing investment prices to fall in the hopes of suppressing high inflation once and for all.
Several highly-watched economic reports are due to be released this week, which could cause further sharp movements in yields.
The U.S. government will report on Tuesday how many job ads companies had open at the end of April, and on Friday it will release its latest monthly report on overall growth in employment and worker wages.
Overseas, India’s Sensex index rose 3.4 percent following the country’s six-week recession. National election Most exit polls point to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Extend for 10 years He has been in power for three consecutive terms.
Meanwhile, Mexican stocks fell 6% following Claudia Scheinbaum’s comments. Claimed victory in the country’s presidential elections.
Elsewhere around the world, stock indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia, with Shanghai and London being the exceptions.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
