US close: Tech stocks help markets stage turnaround
Trading on Wall Street finished in the green on Monday, as technology stocks led a late-session turnaround, and after Donald Trump's continued attacks on China raised fears of a resumption in trade hostilities between the world's two largest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.11% at 23,749.76, the S&P 500 added 0.42% to 2,842.74, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.23% firmer at 8,710.72.
It was a stark change from the open, when the Dow lost 147.02 points, initially continuing on losses recorded last week after the president apparently reignited America's trade war with China, with some alarming claims regarding the Covid-19 pandemic's origin.
Also helping sentiment improve in late trading was an improvement in oil prices to comfortably above $20 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate last 7.38% firmer at $21.24.
Donald Trump doubled down on his claims over the weekend that he believed that China had made a "mistake" and was responsible for spreading the coronavirus.
"I think they made a horrible mistake and didn't want to admit it," he said.
Trump did not offer up any evidence to support his claims and the office of the Director of National Intelligence actually went as far as to say the Covid-19 virus was not man-made.
National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow vowed that China would be "held accountable" for the outbreak and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was a "significant amount of evidence" connecting the outbreak to a lab in the Wuhan region.
However, the DNI stopped itself short of saying the outbreak was not a result of a laboratory "accident" in Wuhan but China has rejected claims that the virus escaped a research centre in its original epicentre.
“Donald Trump is trying to shift the blame onto China, with recent threats of the possible repercussions providing traders with yet another concern to contend with,” said IG's Joshua Mahony.
“While questions remain over how the virus originated and what China could have done differently to prepare the world, Trump appears to be jumping the gun somewhat in threatening China without an official inquiry that many other nations have called for.”
Several US states will let non-essential businesses reopen this week and will also ease stay-at-home orders as part of an effort to restart the economy.
On the macro front, business conditions in the New York metropolitan area fell to record lows last month as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
The ISM said on Monday that its current business conditions index dropped to 4.3 in April, sharply lower than the reading of 12.9 in March - the previous lowest reading.
Elsewhere, factory orders for March sank 10.3% month-on-month, according to the Department of Commerce.
Durable goods orders slid 14.7%, a touch higher than estimates of 14.4, while non-durable goods orders dipped 5.8%.
In corporate news, the so-called FAANG major technology plays were all in the green in afternoon trading, with Facebook up 1.48%, Amazon ahead 1.31%, Apple rising 1.41%, Netflix 3.1% higher, and Google owner Alphabet 0.47% firmer.
Loews shares reversed earlier losses to close up 0.57%, after it posted a $632m quarterly loss as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Going the other way, airline stocks descended across the board after Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway sold off all $4bn of its airline holdings as a result of the pandemic.
American Airlines was down 7.71%, Delta Air Lines was off 6.43% and United Airlines were 5.11% weaker, while among the non-legacy carriers, JetBlue Airways was off 4.43% and Spirit Airlines was down 2.05%.
Dow Jones - Risers
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $44.88 4.03%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $178.84 2.45%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $91.44 2.24%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.45 1.90%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $221.84 1.50%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $293.16 1.41%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $287.77 1.06%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $41.35 1.05%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $57.99 0.90%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $96.91 0.90%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $58.89 -3.70%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $107.72 -2.85%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.18 -2.20%
American Express Co. (AXP) $86.38 -2.20%
Boeing Co. (BA) $131.46 -1.43%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $92.14 -1.19%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.86 -1.04%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $56.25 -1.04%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.14 -1.01%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $115.77 -0.90%
S&P 500 - Risers
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $73.48 10.73%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $63.66 8.34%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $31.55 7.83%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $18.04 7.38%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $32.49 7.29%
Apache Corp. (APA) $12.06 6.91%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $5.81 5.64%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $19.07 5.62%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $42.52 5.56%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $12.33 5.38%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) $55.32 -7.82%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $9.82 -7.71%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $22.57 -6.43%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $27.56 -5.71%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $106.02 -5.50%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $25.26 -5.11%
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $39.95 -4.95%
General Electric Co. (GE) $6.21 -4.46%
Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $28.77 -4.45%
Deere & Co. (DE) $132.94 -3.80%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $761.19 8.54%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $264.69 3.84%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $100.99 3.79%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $210.14 3.38%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $88.96 3.20%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $388.21 3.15%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $116.83 3.14%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $541.82 3.11%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $428.15 3.10%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $66.70 3.06%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $9.82 -7.71%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.44 -2.67%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $71.89 -2.57%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $82.58 -2.56%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,413.30 -2.45%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $36.22 -2.07%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $39.67 -2.00%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $63.74 -1.94%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $39.60 -1.71%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $23.60 -1.63%