Tech stocks climb but industrials fall
U.S. stocks ended split Monday — technology companies continued to climb, but Boeing and other industrial companies gave back some of the ground they won Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average both fell, but the Nasdaq composite rose to a new record high.
Companies such as Apple and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and chipmakers including Micron Technology have led the market’s recovery in recent weeks. Retailers including Amazon and Starbucks also made headway. The market was coming off its biggest gain in a month; Friday’s jump followed the February jobs report.
Inflation has been the market’s dominant concern over the last six weeks. Two more measuring sticks of inflation will be reported this week: The Labor Department is scheduled to disclose data on consumer prices Tuesday and producer prices Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve is gradually raising interest rates to keep inflation in check, and it expects to boost rates at least three times this year. JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist for TD Ameritrade, said investors are looking at a lot of data but are really just wondering how quickly the Fed will raise interest rates.
Optical communications company Oclaro surged 27.5% to $10.01 on Monday after it agreed to be bought by optical networking company Lumentum Holdings. The deal values Oclaro at $9.99 a share, or $1.69 billion. Lumentum rose 4.4% to $72.
Industrial companies — which have bounced around since President Trump said he would order tariffs on imported steel and aluminum — fell Monday, losing about half of what they gained during their Friday rally. Boeing slid 2.9% to $344.19. Lockheed Martin fell 2.2% to $333.10. Construction equipment maker Caterpillar slipped 2.4% to $154.50.
Goldman Sachs rose 1% to $273.38 after it said David Solomon will become its sole president and chief operating officer, clearing the way for Solomon to become the firm’s next chief executive. Solomon and Harvey Schwartz had shared both job titles, but the company says Schwartz will retire next month.
Deckers Outdoor sank 7.4% to $90.28 after Marcato Capital Management, which had owned an 8.5% stake in the shoe company, said it no longer owns any Deckers stock.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 68 cents to $61.36 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 54 cents to $64.95 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 1 cent to $1.89 a gallon. Heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.86 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 5 cents to $2.78 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Bond prices edged up. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.87% from 2.90%.
Gold fell $3.20 to $1,320.80 an ounce. Silver fell 7 cents to $16.54 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $3.12 a pound.
The dollar fell to 106.35 yen from 106.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.2336 from $1.2313.