Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
The Nasdaq Composite slipped on Monday as investors questioned whether the market was getting ahead of itself following five straight winning weeks for stocks.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 17 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 lost 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1% as investors sold Big Tech shares which have led the market’s gains this year.
As stocks stagnated, bitcoin and gold rallied to start the week. Bitcoin passed the $41,000 mark to notch a 19-month high, while gold reached its highest nominal intraday level ever.
Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms jumped more than 10% and 12%, respectively, as bitcoin advanced. Coinbase and Microstrategy gained more than 7% and 8%, respectively.
Alaska Airlines dropped more than 17% after it agreed to acquire rival Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion. The move is part of Alaska’s efforts to expand along the West Coast.
Monday’s moves mark a pullback following a strong period in the market. Technology shares struggled in the session, with Nvidia, Alphabet and Meta all sliding more than 2%.
The broad S&P 500 posted its highest close since March 2022 on Friday, bringing its year-to-date gains to almost 20%. The blue-chip Dow posted its first five-week win streak since 2021 last week and is up more than 9% for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has popped 37% in 2023.
The rebound in stocks since October came as investors increasingly bet that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates next year. Investors maintained this belief last week even as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s tried to tamp down rate-cut expectations, saying it’s “premature” to anticipate easing in policy.
November was the best month for the 30-stock Dow since October 2022. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both enjoyed their biggest monthly gains since July 2022.
“We are not getting bearish,” Oppenheimer chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus…
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