Wall Street Close: Inflation jitters offer a dull start to the week

US shares began the week on a back foot as Wall Street ends lower, mainly dragged by the technology sector, on Monday. Behind the moves could be the mixed play between the US data and Fedspeak, not to forget geopolitical risk emanating from the Middle East and consolidation of previous gains.

Against this backdrop, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 0.16% or 54.34 points to mark its first negative day in three by closing around 34,327.79. Further, the S&P 500 stays on the line while declining 10.56 points or 0.25% to end the day near 4,163.29. Above all, the Nasdaq became the day’s biggest loser, even with 0.38% or 50.93 points of loss, while finishing the day’s trading at 13,379.05.

Neither better than forecast US NY Empire State Manufacturing Index, up from 23.9 market consensus to 24.3, nor Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida’s repeat comments could save the bulls as markets remain worried over inflation. The same weighed-down technology shares as reflation woes aren’t global and hence the mismatch troubles multinational companies.

The inflation woes also backed the US Treasury yields to post 1.7 basis points (bps) of gains and dragged down the US dollar index (DXY) to a fresh three-month low, not to forget fueling gold to the highest since February 01. As a result, the US equities had extra catalysts to justify the latest weakness.

Elsewhere, AT&T announced to keep all its content channels under one roof and dragged down the shares of underlying companies. “AT&T Inc, owner of HBO and Warner Bros studios, and Discovery Inc., home to lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV and TLC, said on Monday they will combine their content assets to create a standalone global entertainment and media business,” said Reuters.

It’s worth mentioning that the cryptocurrencies remained volatile even as Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tweet defending their holdings propelled Bitcoin after the week-start slump.

Looking forward, Walmart, Home Depot and Macy’s will report earnings on Tuesday and can entertain Wall Street traders.