Stocks waver on Wall Street amid broader ‘losing streak’
Tech slips; Asian shares mixed
NEW YORK, May 16, (AP): Stocks wavered in choppy trading on Wall Street Monday in the midst of a losing streak that has brought the market down for six weeks in a row.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% as of 12:07 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25 points, or 0.1%, to 32,227 and the Nasdaq fell 0.6%.
Technology stocks fell and tempered gains elsewhere in the market. Chipmaker Nvidia slipped 1.1%. Big tech companies, with their pricey values, tend to push the broader market more forcefully either up or down. The sector has been a particularly heavy weight on the broader market as investors worry about high inflation and rising interest rates.
Retailers also fell broadly. Amazon slipped 1.3% and Starbucks fell 2.9%.
Energy companies made solid gains along with health care companies. Chevron rose 2.7% and Eli Lilly rose 3.6%.
Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.86% from 2.94% late Friday.
Spirit Airlines rose 12.4% after JetBlue said it would make a hostile offer for the budget carrier after Spirit rebuffed its earlier bids.
Defense contractor ManTech jumped 14.9% after investment firm Carlyle Group said it will buy the defense contractor.
The broader market is in the midst of a slump as investors try to gauge how companies and consumers are dealing with higher prices and whether central banks can help ease the problem.
The Federal Reserve is in the process of pulling its benchmark short-term interest rate off its record low near zero, where it spent most of the pandemic. It also said it may continue to raise rates by double the usual amount at upcoming meetings. Investors are concerned that the central bank could cause a recession if it raises rates too high or too quickly.
Lingering supply chain problems continue to feed inflation, and China’s recent COVID-19 lockdowns have raised concerns that they may worsen. Russia’s war against Ukraine has made already high energy prices even more volatile, which could also draw out rising inflation.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 1.6% Monday and are up more than 50% for the year. Natural gas prices rose 1.5% and have more than doubled in 2022.
Wall Street is closely watching how consumers react to pressure from inflation and will get several updates from the U.S. government and key retailers this week. The Commerce Department on Tuesday will release its retail sales report for April.
Home Depot and Walmart will report their latest financial results on Tuesday and Target will report its results on
European benchmarks were trading mixed, with shares up in France and Germany but down in Britain. Stock moves were similar earlier in the day in Asia, where benchmarks finished higher in Japan and Australia, but fell in South Korea. Shares rose in Hong Kong but declined in Shanghai.
France’s CAC 40 declined 0.4% in early trading to 6,336.07, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.5% to 13,963.69. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up less than 0.1% at 7,421.33.
Asian shares mostly rose Monday, as investors eyed surging energy costs and prospects for interest rate hikes in the U.S.
Benchmarks edged up in Japan, Australia and South Korea. Shares rose in Hong Kong but declined in Shanghai.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% in afternoon trading to 26,552.63. SoftBank Group stock rose despite reporting hefty losses on its investments last week.
Retail chain Uniqlo also rose after falling in previous weeks on worries about virus lockdowns in China.
In other regional trading, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3% to 7,093.00. South Korea’s Kospi was little changed inching up less than 0.1% to 2,605.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng recouped morning losses to rise nearly 0.1% to 19,915.74, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.6% to 3,066.48.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.16 to $109.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $4.36 to $110.49 on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.30 to $110.25 a barrel.