NEW YORK: The Dow jumped over 1% on Monday as economy-linked banks and energy stocks came roaring back after sharp declines in the previous week, while technology stocks struggled to keep pace as Nvidia dragged down chipmakers.
Blue-chip stocks such as Goldman Sachs, 3M Co , Boeing Co and Chevron Corp all rose more than 1%, powering the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher. All of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with financials, industrials, energy and materials adding more than 1% each.
“Investors are using this as an opportunity to step in to names that they’re comfortable with, sort of the large-cap blue-chip stocks and they’re testing the market,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management. “If today’s strength in the blue-chips can sort of sustain itself that might give the rest of the market the ability to start to feel some confidence.”
The S&P 500 technology sector index fell 0.1%, being dragged lower by a 5.4% drop in high-flying shares of Nvidia Corp. Peers Qualcomm Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc also declined, while the Philadelphia SE Sector index slid 1.5%.
Tesla Inc fell 3.1%, weighing down the Nasdaq index after Reuters reported that the US SEC has opened a probe into the electric-car maker over whistleblower claims on solar panel defects. Wall Street’s major indexes swung wildly last week as investors digested Omicron news and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments about speedier taper to tackle surging inflation.
Powell’s comments also spurred bets of early interest rate hikes next year, with market participants shifting to cyclical and so-called value names from tech-heavy growth stocks, expecting them to perform better in an environment of tightening monetary policy. The Russell 1000 value index has gained nearly 1.6% so far in December, outperforming its growth counterpart, which dropped over 3%.
At 10:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 575.78 points, or 1.67%, at 35,155.86, the S&P 500 was up 45.84 points, or 1.01%, at 4,584.27, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 65.63 points, or 0.44%, at 15,151.10. After a mixed jobs report last week, focus will now be on the release of consumer price index and core inflation readings on Friday for clues on the trajectory of the Fed’s policy decision at its December meeting.
Kohl’s Corp rose 7.6% after hedge fund Engine Capital LP said it is pushing the department-store chain to consider a sale of the company or separate its e-commerce division to improve its lagging stock price.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.49-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and 512 new lows.
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