Wall St Ends Lower, Pulled Down By Tech Stocks

Wall Street stocks ended lower on Monday, weighed down by tech shares as signs of growing inflation worried investors about the potential for tighter monetary policy.

Of the 11 major S&P sectors that declined, technology and consumer were among the biggest losers.

“What is causing the decline, no surprise to anybody, is the worry about inflation and interest rates,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

“As a result that’s causing the growth group, in particular technology and consumer discretionary stocks, to experience weakness, while some of the more value-oriented groups are holding up a bit better.”

The S&P 500 scored its biggest one-day jump in more than a month on Friday as investors picked up beaten-down stocks following a pullback earlier in the week on worries about inflation and a sooner-than-expected tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56.12 points, or 0.16%, to 34,326.01, the S&P 500 lost 10.42 points, or 0.25%, to 4,163.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 50.93 points, or 0.38%, to 13,379.05.

Earnings this week will be scrutinized for clues on whether rising prices had any impact on consumer demand and if retailers can sustain their strong earnings momentum.

Walmart Inc, home improvement chain Home Depot Inc and department store operator Macy’s Inc are set to report earnings on Tuesday, with Target Corp Ralph Lauren and TJX Cos due later in the week.

With the earnings season at its tail end, overall earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have climbed 50.6% from a year ago, according to Refinitiv IBES, the strongest pace in 11 years.

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. Shares of AT&T and Discovery both declined.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks like Marathon Digital, Riot Blockchain and Coinbase fell as bitcoin swung in volatile trading after Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk tweeted about the carmaker’s bitcoin holdings.

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