The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new intraday record, but technology stocks weighed on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Monday as investors continued to gauge the possibility of more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.30 points, or 0.6%, to close at a record high of 41,622.08, surpassing its previous record of 41,563.08 set on Aug. 30. The index surged more than 300 points to a record intraday high of 41,733.97.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the Nasdaq fell more than 90 points, or 0.5%.
Apple shares were the biggest drag on both the benchmark S&P and Nasdaq Composite indexes, falling nearly 3% after analysts at TF International Securities said demand for the company's latest iPhone 16 model was weaker than expected.
Demand concerns also weighed on chipmakers, with Nvidia, the S&P 500's best-performing stock this year, down nearly 2%, Broadcom down 2.2% and Micron Tech down 4.4%, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index fell 1.4%.
“If people want to raise a lot of money quickly, how do they do that? They sell stocks that can sell very quickly without necessarily going bust. So they can sell Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft very quickly and raise a lot of money,” said Ken Polcari, chief market strategist at SlateStone Wealth in Jupiter, Florida.
“They want to do it in front of the Fed in case they get nervous or they want to raise money to make sure they have cash to operate with.”
The market has been rising since the start of the year on expectations that the Fed will begin easing monetary policy while data suggests the economy will avoid a recession.
Market expectations for the size of the rate cut the Federal Reserve will announce on Wednesday have fluctuated widely in recent days, with a 50 basis point cut now seen as 59% likely, according to the CME. FedWatchTools.
Intel rose 6.4% after it was reported that the company may be eligible for up to $3.5 billion in federal subsidies to manufacture semiconductors for the Department of Defense.
Shares in plane maker Boeing fell 0.8% after the company said it would impose a hiring freeze and consider layoffs in the coming weeks as worker strikes entered a fourth day.
