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U.S. stocks fell in volatile trading on Monday as investors prepared for a busy week of earnings featuring reports from the largest tech companies.
The Dow Jones Industrials slumped 209.94 points to 30,787.04
The S&P 500 stumbled 11.43 points to 3,830.04.
The NASDAQ saw its initial gains of the morning evaporate and lost 5.42 points from Friday’s all-time high to 13,537.64.
This coming week 13 Dow components and 111 S&P 500 companies are set to report earnings. Among the quarterly reports on deck include those from Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Tesla, McDonald’s, Honeywell, Caterpillar and Boeing.
Apple shares gained 1.8% to about $140 a share before its quarterly report Wednesday after the bell. Tesla, which also reports Wednesday, was up 2.2%.
Highly speculative action in stocks like GameStop was unnerving some investors, causing worry that parts of the market had detached from fundamentals and could cause the broader market to take a hit when the mania ends.
Shares of the brick-and-mortar video-game retailer soared more than 140% to top $150 at one point Monday as a slew of retail investors active in online chat rooms aimed to squeeze out short sellers. Other heavily shorted names, including Bed Bath & Beyond, also jumped higher on Monday amid the buying frenzy.
Companies kicked off the earnings season on a strong note. Of the S&P 500 components that have already reported earnings, 73% have beaten on both sales and EPS, according to data from Bank of America. One expert said this is tracking similar to last quarter when the number of companies beating hit a record.
Wall Street is coming off a winning week amid the strength in the technology sector. The Dow registered its fifth positive week in six while the S&P 500 posted its third positive week in four. The NASDAQ advanced 4.2% last week for its best week since November and the fifth positive week in six as shares of Big Tech names pushed the index to a new all-time high.
The move higher came as President Joe Biden tries to push through a $1.9-trillion stimulus program that many congressional Republicans oppose. The fiscal aid includes direct checks to millions of Americans, aid to state and local governments, funding for Covid vaccines and testing, a boost to the minimum wage and enhanced unemployment benefits, among other things.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were higher, weighing on yields to 1.04% from at Friday’s 1.09%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices eked down three cents to $52.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $3.20 to $1,853 U.S. an ounce.
