The stock market finished mostly lower Monday, weighed down by the industrials sector, while the Nasdaq closed at a record, in part due to optimism over Friday’s jobs data, which showed solid economic growth without triggering wage pressure.
How did the main benchmarks fare?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.62% fell 157.13 points, or 0.6%, to 25,178.61. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.13% fell 3.55 points, or 0.1%, to 2,783.02, with the industrials sector shedding more than 1.2%. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.36% meanwhile, was up 27.51 points, or 0.4%, to 7,588.32, after hitting an intraday high of 7,609.10.
The major indexes are coming off a weekly gain of more than 3%. On Friday, the Dow surged 1.8%, marking the first time the blue-chip index has finished above 25,000 since Feb. 28. The S&P 500 index rose 1.7% on Friday, tied for its biggest one-day percentage gain of 2018, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.8%.
What drove the markets?
With nothing major on the economic-data calendar, the market’s focus will likely remain on last week’s so-called Goldilocks jobs numbers. The nonfarm-payrolls report Friday showed 313,000 jobs were created in February — better than expected — but wage growth came in below expectations.
Investors have feared that a tighter labor market could lead to higher inflation on the side of wages, and more pressure from the Fed to pick up the pace of its interest-rate hikes. More interest-rate hikes than the market expects could damp enthusiasm for stocks.
Friday’s data and reaction were a marked difference from January jobs report last month, when a jump in hourly earnings growth sparked the first correction for the Dow and the S&P 500 in roughly two years. A correction is defined as a drop of 10% or more for stocks.
Investors will get a second indication of inflation this week, with an update on consumer prices due Tuesday. Retail sales are also scheduled for release on Wednesday.
What drove the markets?
With nothing major on the economic-data calendar, the market’s focus will likely remain on last week’s so-called Goldilocks jobs numbers. The nonfarm-payrolls report Friday showed 313,000 jobs were created in February — better than expected — but wage growth came in below expectations.
Investors have feared that a tighter labor market could lead to higher inflation on the side of wages, and more pressure from the Fed to pick up the pace of its interest-rate hikes. More interest-rate hikes than the market expects could damp enthusiasm for stocks.
Friday’s data and reaction were a marked difference from January jobs report last month, when a jump in hourly earnings growth sparked the first correction for the Dow and the S&P 500 in roughly two years. A correction is defined as a drop of 10% or more for stocks.
Investors will get a second indication of inflation this week, with an update on consumer prices due Tuesday. Retail sales are also scheduled for release on Wednesday.
Shares of Oclaro Inc. OCLR, -0.40% jumped 28% after Lumentum Holdings Inc. LITE, +0.69% said it would acquire the optical components company in a deal valued at $1.8 billion. Shares of Lumentum were up 4.4%.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +0.96% rose 1% after the company said that Harvey Schwartz, its co-chief operating officer and president, was set to retire, leaving David Solomon to serve as sole COO and president. The move appears to put the company’s succession plans in focus after The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein was set to retire as early as the end of 2018.
Longtime Dow Chemical Co. leader Andrew Liveris plans to step down next month. Co-lead director Jeff Fettig will assume the executive chairman role at the company, now known as DowDuPont Inc. DWDP, -1.23% and soon to be broken apart. Shares of the DowDuPont were down 1.2%.
Biogen Inc. BIIB, -2.17% said it reached a deal to buy a phase-2b-trial-ready schizophrenia treatment from Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.44% for up to $590 million. Shares of Biogen were down 2.2% while Pfizer fell 0.4%.
Sempra Energy SRE, +0.61% said Chief Executive Debra Reed will step down as CEO on May 1, but will remain as executive chairman until she retires on Dec. 1, 2018, after more than 40 years with the company. Shares of the company were up 0.6%.
Shares of Broadcom Ltd. AVGO, +1.21% rose 3.6% after the Singapore-based semiconductor company said it expects to complete its relocation to the U.S. by April 3.
What are other assets doing?
Keying off Wall Street’s gains last week, European stocks SXXP, -0.06% ended higher, while Asian markets closed with gains across the board.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.21% was down 0.2% while gold prices GCJ8, +0.38% settled lower and oil prices CLJ8, -0.70% were weaker.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.85% was little changed at 2.86%.
