Stocks ended another wobbly day mostly lower on Wall Street Monday, extending a losing streak for markets. The S&P 500 couldn’t hold on to an afternoon gain and ended down 0.4%. The benchmark index is coming off a six-week losing streak. Tech companies were among the biggest losers, pulling the Nasdaq down 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended barely in the green. Bond yields fell. Energy stocks and health care companies gained ground, but retailers had some of the biggest losses and tempered gains elsewhere. Amazon slipped 2% and Starbucks fell 4.2%.
Spirit Airlines rose 13.6% after JetBlue said it would make a hostile offer for the budget carrier, which had rebuffed its earlier bids, the AP reports. Defense contractor ManTech jumped 15.2% after investment firm Carlyle Group said it will buy the defense contractor. The broader market is in the midst of a slump as investors try to gauge how companies and consumers are dealing with higher prices and whether central banks can help ease the problem. "Time is the most important factor here," says Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “Right now sentiment and emotion is winning but eventually the reality of a fundamentally good backdrop will take over."
US crude oil prices rose 2.9% Monday and are up more than 50% for the year. Natural gas prices rose 3.9% and have more than doubled in 2022. Wall Street is closely watching how consumers react to pressure from inflation and will get several updates from the US government and key retailers this week. The Commerce Department on Tuesday will release its retail sales report for April. Home Depot and Walmart will report their latest financial results on Tuesday and Target will report its results on Wednesday.
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