Wall Street Close: Nasdaq eases amid tech pullback, DJI30, S&P 500 remain firm

US equities stay on the positive side, despite Nasdaq’s mild losses, by the end of Monday’s North American trading session.

Upbeat market sentiment, backed by firm US activity data and positive comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell joined hopes of further strong earnings to favor Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI30) and S&P 500. However, declines in prices of the key technology shares like Facebook, Alphabet, Tesla and Amazon weighed on the Nasdaq (NQ100).

Against this backdrop, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI30) becomes the biggest gainer of the day, up 238.38 points or 0.70%, whereas S&P 500 came in second with the daily jump of 0.27%, or 11.49 points. Nasdaq, on the other hand, dropped 0.48% or 67.56 points by the press time.

US ISM Manufacturing PMI for April stepped back from a multi-year top of 64.7 to 60.7, versus 65.00 market expectations. However, all 18 industry components reported growth for the first time since 2014. On the other hand, Fed’s Powell said, “US economic outlook has clearly brightened.”

Recently, the New York Times (NYT) came out with the headlines suggesting the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12-15 years old by early next week. Before that, New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said, “The economy is on a very good trajectory but we still have a long ways to go.”

Amid these plays, US 10-year Treasury yields eased 3.3 basis points (bps) to 1.599% while the US dollar index (DXY) began May on the back foot.

Looking forward, off in China and Japan may restrict market moves while cautious sentiment ahead of earnings from the key Wall Street shares like Uber, Lyft and Square may also probe the bulls amid a light calendar. However, the receding coronavirus (COVID-19) woes in the West and the jump in vaccinations could keep market players hopeful during the key week.