U.S. stock markets closed lower on Monday as weakness in technology stocks led the benchmark indexes lower. Moreover, market participants also remained watchful of the progress of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending plan, including his call to raise corporate tax rates. All the three major stock indexes closed the day in red.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.4%, or 123.04 points, closing at 34,077.63, snapping its three-day winning streak. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in red while 12 finished the day in green. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed the day at 13,914.76, down nearly 1%, reversing its gains from the previous two sessions, on the back of weak performance by large-cap technology stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, closing the day at 4,163.26 points. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) dipped 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Notably, nine out of eleven sectors of the benchmark index closed in the negative zone and two in the green.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 6.4% to 17.29. A total of 9.86 billion shares were traded on Monday. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.42-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 3.30-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
Technology Stocks Lead Wall Street Lower
Weakness in high-flying technology growth stocks led the U.S. stock markets lower on Monday as the 10-year Treasury note yield also gained 2.8 basis points to reach nearly 1.6%. Consequently, shares of heavy-weight technology stocks like Zoom Video Communications, Inc.
ZM
, Facebook, Inc.
FB
and Microsoft Corp.
MSFT
fell 1.7%, 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively. Notably, Microsoft carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Investors Continue to Monitor President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
Market participants also continued to monitor the progress of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan which also includes his call to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Notably, the corporate tax rate was reduced by the Republicans from 35% to 21% in 2017.
Stocks That Have Made Headline
United Airlines Incurs Wider-Than-Expected Loss in Q1
United Airlines
UAL
incurred a loss (excluding $3.21 from non-recurring items) of $7.5 per share in the first quarter of 2021, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $6.97. (
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