Nasdaq slides from near all-time record high

THE Nasdaq slipped on Monday afternoon after briefly surpassing its record closing high from November 2021, while the Dow rose modestly ahead of two US inflation reports this week that could influence US Federal Reserve policy.

The benchmark S&P 500 closed slightly lower but remained just above the 5,000-point level it crossed on Friday.

Traders awaited January’s Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index this week to gauge prospects for interest rate cuts. This week the market also gets data on industrial production, retail sales and preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment.

The Nasdaq lost steam in the afternoon after rising early in the session past its highest closing level hit in November 2021, within a percentage point of its all-time intraday high of 16,212.229.

Over the past four months, mega-caps with greater exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) have spearheaded a bull market on Wall Street as other stocks also rose on hopes of imminent rate cuts and an upbeat outlook from businesses.

During the session, Nvidia crossed above Amazon.com in market capitalization, as the euphoria around AI catapulted the chipmaker to the fourth-most valuable US company, but ended the day behind the online retailer. Nvidia ended the day up 0.16%, while Amazon dipped 1.2%.

The S&P 500 lost 4.77 points or 0.095% to end at 5,021.84 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 48.12 points or 0.3% to 15,942.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125.69 points or 0.33% to 38,797.38.

The small-caps Russell 2000 index climbed 1.9%.

Among other movers, Diamondback Energy jumped 9.4%, helping energy to top the 11 S&P 500 sectors with gains. Diamondback announced a $26-billion deal to buy the largest privately held oil and gas producer in the Permian basin, Endeavor Energy Partners.

On the Nasdaq 2,835 issues advanced and 1,452 declined as a 1.95-to-1 ratio favored advancers. On the NYSE, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 3.4-to-1 ratio. There were 592 new highs and 46 new lows. —