Stocks slide ahead of earnings posts
Dow, Nasdaq have closed lower for past four days
Wall Street added to its recent string of losses Monday, as stocks fell ahead of a busy week of inflation updates and the start of corporate earnings reporting season.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, extending its losing streak to a fourth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% after wavering between small gains and losses, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1%. The Dow and Nasdaq have also closed lower the past four trading days.
Small company stocks also fell, dragging the Russell 2000 index 0.6% lower. U.S. bond trading was closed.
Major indexes are coming off a volatile week where they notched out gains because of an early two-day rally that shielded stocks from several weak days.
Wall Street has been turbulent amid worries about stubbornly hot inflation and the Federal Reserve’s plan to tame high prices by raising interest rates. The goal is to slow economic growth and cool both borrowing and spending in order to get inflation under control, but the plan risks sending the economy into a recession.
Investors will potentially get a more detailed picture of the Fed’s thinking on Wednesday when the central bank releases minutes from its latest policy meeting. That’s when the Fed made another extra-big interest rate increase of three-quarters of a percentage point.
The government on Wednesday will release its report on producer prices, which will provide details for inflation on the wholesale level for businesses.
The closely watched report on consumer prices will be released on Thursday, and a report on retail sales will be released on Friday.
The S&P 500 fell 27.27 points to 3,612.39. The Dow dropped 93.91 points to close at 29,202.88. The Nasdaq lost 110.30 points to 10,542.10. The Russell 2000 fell 10.23 points to 1,691.92.
Technology stocks were the biggest weights on the market. Makers of semiconductors and chip manufacturing equipment also suffered heavy selling after the U.S. government tightened export controls to limit China’s ability to get advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and make advanced semiconductors. Nvidia fell 3.4%.
Health care stocks also helped pull the S&P 500 lower. Pfizer lost 1.4%.
Industrial companies and others considered less risky, such as household goods makers, held up better than the rest of the market.
A busy week of closely watched economic reports comes amid the opening to the latest round of corporate earnings reports. Those reports, and statements from companies and corporate executives, could help provide a clearer picture of how high prices are impacting revenue and profits.
PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines and Walgreens are among the big companies reporting earnings this week. Several major banks will report their results on Friday, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
Gold for December delivery fell $34.10 to $1,675.20 an ounce. Silver for December delivery fell 65 cents to $19.61 an ounce, and December copper rose 4 cents to $3.43 a pound.
The dollar rose to 145.73 Japanese yen from 145.36 yen.