Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on June 3, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Monday after weak U.S. manufacturing data raised concerns about the strength of the economy. Banks, industrials and other shares dependent on economic growth led the pullback.
The 30-stock Dow slipped 208 points, or about 0.5% with Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs among the biggest losers. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%
Cyclical stocks whose fortunes are closely tied to economic growth such as energy, industrial and materials companies led the decline. Earlier, the U.S. manufacturing sector showed signs of slowing, with the ISM manufacturing index measuring 48.7 in May, sending Treasury yields and the dollar lower. A reading below 50 is an indication of a contraction.
Wall Street is coming off a strong month, with all three major averages notching their sixth positive month in seven. The Nasdaq rose 6.9% in May, its best month since November 2023.
However, the rally seemed to lose steam near the end of the month. The three averages all closed May more than 1% below their record highs, even with the Dow adding more than 500 points on Friday. The Nasdaq fell 1.1% last week as chip stocks, including Nvidia, stumbled.
Nvidia rose nearly 4% after announcing a new suite of artificial intelligence chips, a sign it is prepared to fight to stay ahead in the highly competitive space. The chipmaker said it will upgrade its AI chip architecture on an annual basis.
“With technicals still stretched, [a] little fear baked in, and sentiment looking optimistic, we’re sticking with our call for volatility to pick up over the summer,” Wolfe Research chief investment strategist Chris Senyek wrote Monday.
The first week of June is brimming with further economic updates. Investors await private payroll data on Thursday from ADP followed by the May jobs report on Friday. Investors appear to want some economic slowing that would give the Federal Reserve the greenlight to cut interest rates, but not too much of a slowdown that would raise fears of a recession.
A technical issue at the New York Stock Exchange affected price quotes for several stocks earlier Monday, but trading returned to normal around midday.
