Nasdaq, S&P 500 Seeing Further Downside But Dow Bucking Downtrend

After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks are seeing continued weakness in late-morning trading on Monday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are adding to the steep losses posted last Friday, although the narrower Dow has bucked the downtrend.

Currently, the Nasdaq is down 253.05 points or 1.3 percent at 18,908.58 and the S&P 500 is down 33.15 points or 0.6 percent at 5,793.89. The Dow, on the other hand, is up 148.14 points or 0.4 percent at 42,086.59.

Continued weakness in the tech sector is weighing on Wall Street, as reflected by the slump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has fallen to its lowest levels in nearly two months.

AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) has helped to lead the sector lower, with the chipmaker currently tumbling by 3.2 percent on the day.

Quantum computing stocks are also seeing continued weakness after Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg echoed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s remarks that quantum is at least a decade away from being a “useful paradigm.”

Ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates have also generated selling pressure following last Friday’s stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report.

Interest rate worries have recently contributed to a surge by bond yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest levels in over a year.

In the coming days, reports on consumer and producer price inflation may provide further insight into the outlook for rates. Reports on weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production are also likely to attract attention later in the week.

Earnings season also starts to pick up steam this week, as financial giants Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) are due to report their quarterly results.

Meanwhile, the advance by the Dow partly reflects a strong gain by UnitedHealth (UNH) after the U.S. government proposed a 4.3 percent average total increase to its 2026 reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans.

Sector News

Airline stocks have pulled back sharply after bucking the downtrend on Friday, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index plunging by 2.9 percent. The index is pulling back off its best closing level in two months.

Substantial weakness is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Gold, utilities and semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable weakness, while oil producer, steel and natural gas stocks are turning in strong performances on the day.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both down by 0.3 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing continued weakness following the steep drop seen last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.7 basis points at 4.801 percent.