Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 20, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Stocks were slightly lower Monday to start a shortened trading week as the rally that brought Wall Street to record levels took a breather.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70 points, or 0.2%. The dipped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.6%.
Shares of Intel led the market lower, with the semiconductor firm sliding 4% after The Financial Times reported that new China guidelines would block Intel chips in government servers and computers. United Airlines stock also fell 4% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would be heightening scrutiny of the airline after a series of safety incidents.
The market is on track for its fifth consecutive month of gains, with the major U.S. stock benchmarks crossing new all-time closing high levels last week. The S&P 500 added roughly 2.3% last week, while the Dow gained just under 2%for itsbest week since December, nearing the 40,000 level. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, jumped about 2.9% during the period.
These gains were fueled by the Federal Reserve's latest remarks that maintained central bankers' rate-cutting timeline for this year, as well as investors' ongoing enthusiasm for tech stocks amid the AI-powered rally.Overall investor sentiment remains above its historical average, according to the latest weekly American Association of Individual Investors Sentiment Survey, reflecting persistent market optimism. Still, some investors fear the potential impact of an overextended rally and higher-for-longer interest rates.
"Examining Fed rate cycles since the 1970s has revealed that, generally speaking, investors have more to fear from the first rate cut in a cycle than the pause, the period in which the central bank stops tightening and has yet to ease," Strategas Securities analyst Ryan Grabinksi wrote in a Friday note.
This week, investors will gain further insight about the path of inflation from the February personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, released Friday morning. The market's reaction will be determined on the following Monday given the Good Friday holiday.
Stocks open lower after winning week
U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday to kick off the final trading week of March.
The slid 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 70 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5%.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Get ready to buy on weakness, Canaccord Genuity says
When the current market rally finally falters, investors should jump into stocks because the pullback won't last long, according to Canaccord Genuity.
Analyst Tony Dwyer said in a note to clients Monday that the stock market is in "one of the longest overbought periods in history" but that doesn't mean stocks have to fall.
"Typically, such an extreme is followed by a churning market over the short to intermediate term rather than a dramatic pullback, which reinforces our view to buy weakness if/when it comes. We continue to believe that any pickup in volatility over coming weeks/months should be used to add to the broader market vs. the SPX," the note said.
— Jesse Pound
See the stocks moving before the bell
These are some of the stocks making notable moves in Monday premarket trading:
- Boeing — The plane maker advanced 2.1% after announcing a broad leadership shakeup. The changes come amid a period of increased scrutiny and a reputational crisis for the company.
- Cleveland-Cliffs— The steel producer added 1.7% after announcingit won award negotiationsfor Department of Energy funding on two projects.
- Foot Locker— The shoe retailer popped 2.9% on the back of an Evercore ISIupgradeto outperform from in line.
See the full list here.
— Alex Harring
Boeing rises following announcement of leadership changes
Boeing advanced more than 2% in premarket trading after the plane maker announced that CEO Dave Calhoun would step down.
Calhoun will leave his post at the end of 2024, part of a broad leadership shakeup for the embattled aero company. Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, is resigning and will leave the board at the company's annual meeting in May. Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has exited effective immediately.
The moves come amid a period of scrutiny and a reputational crisis after a panel blew out on a Boeing plane midflight. Boeing shares have tumbled more than 27% in 2024.
— Alex Harring
Market broadening is a myth, says Raymond James
Investors have been clamoring for a market broadening this year, but all evidence so far points to this being a myth, according to Raymond James.
"As we show in the chart(s) of the week, this drumbeat of 'broadening' is just not matched by data. The S&P 500 continues to outperform the Equal-Weighted Russell 1000 (almost every week this year), which we would argue is a textbook example of a 'narrow' market," the bank wrote.
Meanwhile, strategist Tavis McCourt noted that Nvidia has still outperformed 10 "AI Derivative" plays every week in 2024.
"Again, no dramatic broadening occurring," he wrote.
— Lisa Kailai Han
EU launches investigation into Meta, Apple and Alphabet
The European Union said Monday it started a probe on Apple, Alphabet and Meta platforms under its new Digital Markets Act.
"Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta's 'pay or consent model'," the Commission said in a statement.
Shares of the three companies fell slightly in the premarket.
— Fred Imbert
Malaysia inflation accelerates for the first time since August 2022
Malaysia's headline inflation rate has climbed for the first time since August 2022, coming in at 1.8% compared with 1.5% in January.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inflation rate to drop to 1.4%.
On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in Malaysia rose 0.5%, up from 0.2% in January.
— Lim Hui Jie
Meituanshares jump to near four-month high as revenue rises
A food delivery courier for Meituan in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. A surge in sales expected for Meituan may be a catalyst to its shares, which have outperformed peers as servicesspendingturns out to be a rare bright spot amid deepening investor pessimism.Source: Bloomberg
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese food delivery firm Meituan jumped as much as 9.6% to 96.80 Hong Kong dollars, their highest level since late November.
The company reported revenue of 73.7 billion yuan ($10.31 billion) for the fourth quarter — a 22.6% jump from a year earlier.
Annual revenue for the company was at 276.7 billion yuan ($38.44 billion), up 26% from the previous year.
The company said it "continued to increase investment in China's consumer market and technology research and development."
— Shreyashi Sanyal
Japan's top FX official says that yen weakness 'does not reflect fundamentals'
The current weakness in the Japanese yen does not reflect its fundamentals, according to Japan's top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, Reuters reported.
The yen has weakened steadily over the past two weeks, even as the Bank of Japan moved to raise interest rates and abolished its yield curve control policy. The yen has crossed the psychological level of 150 against the greenback, trading at 151.28 currently.
Kanda told reporters that yen weakness, based on speculative moves, has a negative effect on the economy, according to the Reuters report.
However, Kanda said he doesn't have a specific exchange level in mind.
— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters
Stock futures open little changed
Stock futures opened slightly mixed on Sunday evening.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower by 33 points, or about 0.1%. lost less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures hovered just above flat.
Last week, all three major indexes crossed fresh all-time closing high levels.
— Pia Singh
