S&P 500 Index opens modestly lower, tech stocks underperform

Wall Street's main indexes push lower on Monday.
S&P 500 Technology Index is down 0.7% after the opening bell.
Defensive sectors cling to modest gains in early trade.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Major equity indexes in the US started the new week on the back foot with investors turning cautious amid a lack of significant fundamental drivers. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% on the day at 34,286, the S&P 500 was losing 0.25% at 4,163 and the Nasdaq Composite was falling 0.4% at 13,341.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the risk-sensitive Technology Index is losing 0.7% after the opening bell. On the other hand, the defensive sectors, Healthcare, Utilites and Real Estate, post modest gains.

Earlier in the day, the data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that the Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 24.3 May from 26.3 in April. This reading came in slightly higher than the market expectation of 23.9 but failed to trigger a meaningful market reaction.

S&P 500 chart (daily)

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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