Key facts
- Major U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Monday.
- Oil prices rose over $2 per barrel due to supply worries amid geopolitical tensions.
- Investors are awaiting quarterly reports from Home Depot and Walmart for insights into U.S. consumer spending.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51%, the S&P 500 lost 0.52%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.31%.
- The energy sector was the only S&P 500 sector to gain, rising 0.87%.
- Microsoft and Meta Platforms were the biggest drags on the S&P 500, falling over 3%.
Wall Street's major indexes closed lower on Monday as investors awaited quarterly reports from large retailers for insights into U.S. consumer spending, while oil prices increased due to supply worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51%, the S&P 500 lost 0.52%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.31%.
Oil futures settled up more than $2 per barrel as investor pessimism about diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iran war fanned global supply worries. The gain in oil provided support for the energy index, which finished up 0.87% and was the sole gainer among the S&P 500’s 11 major industry sectors.
Investors, with July’s weak retail sales and jobs data fresh in their minds, were cautious as they waited for quarterly results from retailers. Home improvement company Home Depot is due to report on Tuesday, and retail bellwether Walmart on Thursday. "Concerns about recent softer data have the market being a bit tepid and waiting for retail earnings for direction," said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth, adding that volume is often weak in August due to vacations. "There’s a combination of summer doldrums and waiting for data on the consumer."
Except energy, all of the benchmark S&P 500’s 11 major industry sectors lost ground, with communications services and consumer staples both falling about 1.5%, while financials and consumer discretionary lost a little over 1%. The S&P 500 technology sector finished down nearly 0.2% after flitting between red and green during the session. Trading in technology has been volatile with investors anxious about whether hefty spending on artificial intelligence will pay off.
On Monday, gains in chip stocks were offset by declines in software, with the PHLX semiconductor index rallying 1.6% while the S&P 500 Software & Services index sank 2.8%. Microsoft and Meta Platforms provided the biggest drags on the S&P 500, with both declining more than 3%. Chip sector stocks provided the biggest index point boosts to the benchmark index, with Micron Technology adding 4% and Applied Materials climbing 5.5%. Investors are also waiting for results, due out next week, from leading AI chipmaker Nvidia.
In individual movers, U.S.-listed shares of Vista rallied 5.6% after Peter Thiel bought a 1% stake in the Latin American oil company. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.76-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, where there were 275 new highs and 226 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 1,848 stocks rose and 3,106 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.68-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 113 new lows. On U.S. exchanges, 14.74 billion shares changed hands compared with the 16.95 billion moving average for the last 20 sessions.