S&P, Dow close at record highs
The Dow and S&P 500 rose to close at record highs Monday, rebounding strongly from losses earlier in the session stemming from glum data on China’s economy.
New COVID-19 outbreaks and floods caused China’s industrial production and retail sales growth to slow sharply and fall short of economists’ estimates. That sparked fears of decelerating global growth.
Washington Crossing Advisors Senior Portfolio Manager Kevin Caron:
“They've had some flooding they've had to deal with. They're dealing with many of the same shortages we are here. So China is yes - dealing with COVID. We are, too, here and we are seeing some signs of slowing just on the margin in the global economy.”
The Dow bounced back from a 283-point deficit to end a third of a percent higher. The S&P added a quarter percent. But the Nasdaq lost two-tenth of a percent.
Tesla was the biggest decliner on the Nasdaq, dropping 4-and-a-third percent. U.S. regulators launched a safety probe into the electric car maker’s driver assistance system, Autopilot, following a series of crashes. They’re looking at Models Y, X, S, and 3.
Shares of Moderna extended their fall, dropping 4%. Shares have lost nearly a fifth of their value since the vaccine maker struck the $200 billion market cap milestone last week.
On Tuesday, it’s retail-o-rama. Investors get the latest read on retail sales and results from blue chips Home Depot and Walmart. Both retailers’ shares rose Monday ahead of their earnings announcements.
