Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Stocks hovered near the flatline Monday as investors tried to regain their footing following a pullback last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 28 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 inched down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.04%.
Tesla shares were up more than 4% after CEO Elon Musk said the company’s robotaxi will be unveiled in early August.
Broad market gains were kept in check as Treasury yields rose. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed nearly 6 basis points to 4.436%.
The 30-stock Dow posted its worst weekly performance since March 2023 last week. The S&P 500 declined nearly 1% during the period, its biggest weekly loss since early January.
The market did end last week on a positive note, however, after a stronger-than-expected jobs report Friday. The surprising gain in payrolls gave investors hope that a strong economy could continue to support corporate earnings growth, even if it means higher interest rates for longer.
“The theme of bad news being good for the equity market continues,” said Matt Rowe, head of portfolio management at Nomura Capital Management. “Much of the equity strength is driven off of hope for an implied cut, or a series of rate cuts this year, that won’t take down the cost of capital and present value of everything.”
For further clarity on how successful the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation has been, investors are eagerly waiting for readings for March consumer and producer price indexes later this week.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the CPI number, scheduled for release Wednesday morning, to increase 0.3% last month and 3.5% year over year.
