Market News
Wall Street closed lower on Monday, weighed down by tech stocks amid policy uncertainty and rising concerns over AI-induced disruption. The Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 and the Dow all ended in negative territory.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 1.7%, or 821.91 points, to close at 48,804.06. Seventeen components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, and 13 ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.1%, or finished at 258.80 points, to close at 22,627.27.
The S&P 500 lost 1.04%, to end at 6,837.75. Of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, six ended in negative territory, while five ended in the positive zone. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC), and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) fell 3.3%, 1.4%, and 1.4%, respectively, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLE) rose 1.5%.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 10.1% to 21.01. A total of 18.39 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 20.62 billion. The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 18 new lows, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 264 new lows.
Markets Plummet on Policy and Tech Concerns
Tech stocks sank as worries about the market intensified following President Donald Trump’s revelation that he plans to raise global tariffs to 15% (up from 10% previously) despite a Supreme Court ruling overturning his earlier plan. This policy change is fueling a 2% spike in gold prices as a safe-haven asset.
At the same time, cybersecurity stocks sank as Anthropic unveiled a new AI-powered code-scanning tool that detects software flaws and suggests fixes, prompting fears of disruption to the established security ecosystem.
Consequently, shares of CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. CRWD and Microsoft Corporation MSFT fell 9.9% and 3.2%, respectively. The companies carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that factory orders had decreased 0.7% in December, after increasing 2.7% in November.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report CrowdStrike (CRWD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
