The S&P 500 (unch) closed little changed on Monday in a session that lacked conviction. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.1%) both declined 0.1% while the small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.7%.
Buying interest was restrained by the upwards pressure in interest rates and oil prices ($108.18, +1.24, +1.2%), technical resistance near the underside of the S&P 500’s 50-day moving average (4417), and lingering growth concerns attributed to the Fed, China’s COVID restrictions, and the Ukraine-Russia situation.
The defensive-oriented S&P 500 health care (-1.1%), consumer staples (-0.8%), utilities (-0.5%), and real estate (-0.3%) sectors were among today’s laggards. Conversely, the energy sector (+1.5%) unsurprisingly outperformed given the higher oil prices.
The financials (+0.6%) and information technology (+0.3%) sectors provided key support with the latter benefiting from dip-buying activity in the semiconductor stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.9%.
Separately, there might have been a wait-and-see mindset for the diversified batch of Q1 earnings reports this week. Today, the market heard from more banks.
Bank of America ( BAC 38.85, +1.28, +3.4%) stood out with a 3% gain after beating EPS estimates and providing encouraging commentary about a strong recovery in spending trends. Charles Schwab ( SCHW 74.94, -7.81, -9.4%) dropped 9% on disappointing results while BNY Mellon ( BK 46.21, -1.08, -2.3%) set a 52-week low after reporting in-line results.
Shares of Twitter ( TWTR 48.45, +3.37, +7.5%), meanwhile, jumped 7.5% as the company adopted a “poison pill” measure amid takeover pressure.
In the Treasury market, the 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 2.47%, and the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 2.86% after flirting with 2.88% overnight. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.5% to 100.80.
Monday’s economic data was limited to the NAHB Housing Market Index for April, which decreased two points to 77, as expected. Looking ahead, investors will receive Housing Starts and Building Permits for March on Tuesday.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -5.3% YTD
- S&P 500 -7.9% YTD
- Russell 2000 -11.4% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite -14.8% YTD
Overseas:
- Europe: DAX market closed, FTSE market closed, CAC market closed
- Asia: Nikkei -1.1%, Hang Seng market closed, Shanghai -0.5%
Commodities:
- Crude Oil +1.24 @ 108.18
- Nat Gas +0.50 @ 7.79
- Gold +6.90 @ 1980.90
- Silver +0.29 @ 25.91
- Copper +0.08 @ 4.79