Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Monday, driven by a drop in AI leader Nvidia that pressured tech stocks, while investors awaited a key inflation report later this week.
Nvidia fell 1.9% after China’s market regulator launched an investigation into the chipmaker over suspected violation of antimonopoly law, dragging the information technology sector down 0.4%.
Advanced Micro Devices dropped 5.0% after BofA Global Research downgraded its rating on the stock, weighing on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which slipped 0.5%.
“The market was taken a bit by surprise regarding China’s investigating (Nvidia) as a possible antimonopoly-law violation. So that’s one thing that’s putting a little damper on the market,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
At 1:47 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.08 points, or 0.19%, to 44,557.44, the S&P 500 lost 20.07 points, or 0.33%, to 6,070.20 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 47.70 points, or 0.24%, to 19,809.92.
Eight out of 11 S&P 500 sectors lost ground, led by declines in consumer discretionary stocks.
Comcast slid 9.2% after forecasting a loss of more than 100,000 broadband subscribers in the fourth quarter, dragging down the communication services sector by 1.0%.
Hershey surged 12.6% to lead S&P 500 gainers, following a report that Cadbury parent Mondelez was exploring an acquisition of the chocolate maker. Mondelez shares fell 1.3%.
Investors are anticipating the consumer price index (CPI) data set for release on Wednesday, along with the producer price index (PPI) on Thursday, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Dec. 17-18.
Bets of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the upcoming meeting shot up to more than 85% after data on Friday showed a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.2% in November, indicating an easing labor market.
Several Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, emphasized caution regarding the central bank’s approach to easing monetary policy due to the economy’s resilience.
Wall Street’s main indexes started December on a positive note, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq both gaining in their first week, while the blue-chip Dow ended the week slightly lower.
U.S. stocks soared in November after Donald Trump won the presidential election and his party secured control of both houses of Congress, raising expectations for a more business-friendly policy agenda.
On Monday, Workday rose 6.1% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said last week the company would be added to the S&P 500 index.
Interpublic Group climbed 5.9% following a report that marketing giant Omnicom was in advanced talks to acquire the advertising company. Omnicom shares fell 9.2%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 193 new highs and 19 new lows on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 110 new highs and 46 new lows.
Dow said on Monday it would sell a 40% stake in some U.S. Gulf Coast infrastructure assets to a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management for $2.4 billion as it looks to focus more on its core chemicals business.
Shares of Dow were up about 5% at $44.14 in premarket trading after the company said it would receive up to about $3 billion in cash proceeds if Macquarie decides to increase its equity share to 49% within six months of closing the deal.
Dow said the transaction was part of its actions to evaluate its ownership of non-product producing assets across its global portfolio, including power and steam production and pipelines.
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