4:05pm: Wall Street gives up gains
Apple's latest augmented reality innovation failed to give US markets a boost on Monday, with all three indices closing in the red.
Earlier today, the tech giant climbed to within a whisker of its all-time high as investors piled into the iPhone maker ahead of the launch of a new virtual reality headset, Vision Pro, but its shares finished around 0.8% lower on the day. The Nasdaq felt the hit, finishing at its opening levels of 13,229 points.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed 0.2% lower at 4,274 points after hitting its highest level since August 2022.
At the close, the Dow had lost 0.6% to finish at 33,563 points.
Broadly, stocks struggled to maintain momentum after Friday’s rally, while oil prices faded, noted Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.
“Aside from tech stocks, which seem to go up regardless of the prevailing market conditions, indices have struggled to make headway and keep up the pace from Friday’s rally," Beauchamp wrote.
"Today’s ISM index weakness has taken some of the shine off Friday’s jobs data, though stocks overall have held on to their gains from last week. The focus now shifts to the Fed, but with a blackout period now descending markets will be mostly on their own this week.”
12:05pm: Tech stocks continue to trend up
US stocks were mixed in noon trading after Apple Inc stock hit a fresh high ahead of the iPhone maker’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference where the company is expected to unveil its virtual reality headset.
At midday, the Dow lost 81 points to 33,681, while the S&P 500 added 10 points at 4,293 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 59 points to 13,299.
“We think as long as the economy continues to chug along and doesn’t show any signs of recession —which so far it hasn’t — the rest of the market can play catch up, and we’ll see some of those other sectors close the gap a little bit,” Independent Advisor Alliance chief investment officer Chris Zaccarelli said.
Notable movers included shares of Palo Alto Networks Inc, which climbed 5% after S&P Dow Jones announced Friday evening that the cybersecurity company will replace Dish Network in the S&P 500 index, effective June 20.
9:52pm: Markets open little changed
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow was down 7 points to 33,756, the Nasdaq Composite added 43 points, 0.3%, to 13,284 and the S&P 500 improved 10 points, 0.2%, to 4,293.
Last week, the S&P 500 had its best week since March, but thus far the rally hasn't continued on Monday. Rather, investors are looking ahead to what the Fed will do later this month.
“What the market is doing ... I think is appropriate, but there are things that we don’t know yet and the big issue is the Fed,” Allianz chief economic advisor Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday.
7:55am: Fed countdown
US stocks are likely to open mixed on Monday as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision on June 14 after an employment report on Friday painted a mixed picture of the US labor market.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 0.05% in pre-market trading, while those for the broader S&P 500 index were 0.02% higher, but contracts for the Nasdaq-100 declined 0.2%.
The main indices all ended higher on Friday following the jobs report and after US Congress passed a bill to raise the country’s debt ceiling. The DJIA gained 2.1% to finish at 33,763 for its best session since January, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 4,282 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.1% to 13,241.
“With the US debt-ceiling crisis averted, attention now turns to the interest rate outlook, which remains uncertain across major economies such as the US, Eurozone, and UK,” commented TickMill Group market analyst Patrick Munnelly.
“The upcoming monetary policy updates from the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BoE) scheduled for the 14th, 15th, and 22nd, respectively, will be closely watched by the markets.
"Following a mixed US employment report on Friday, which showed higher-than-expected job growth but also an increase in the unemployment rate and a slight moderation in wage growth, the US interest rate outlook has become even more uncertain," he added.
The services ISM reading for May, due out today, will provide another "timely update" on what is happening to activity ahead of the Fed’s policy announcement, Munnelly said, noting that it showed growth still running at a solid pace in April, albeit slower than in the first couple of months of the year.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com