US equity indexes showed varied performance in midday trading on Monday, while crude oil and gold prices experienced significant declines amid a strengthening dollar. The S&P 500 remained relatively steady at 5,993.4 after reaching an intraday record of 6,017.3, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.7% to 44,283.7, also achieving a new all-time high of 44,486.70.
Conversely, the Nasdaq Composite dipped by 0.3% to 19,230.8. Among the major sectors, consumer discretionary and financial services stood out as the top gainers, whereas technology stocks led the declines during the session. In a noteworthy development, half of the top 10 companies with market capitalizations exceeding $200 billion that saw gains on Monday hailed from the financial services sector, indicative of the incoming Trump administration's noted inclination towards deregulation.
Notably, Elon Musk's Tesla ($TSLA) experienced a surge of 7% during the intraday trading, a positive sign for investors anticipating benefits under the new administration. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil saw a decrease of 3.2%, trading at $68.10 per barrel. China's economic data released over the weekend revealed that the country had its slowest inflation rate growth in four months for October, coupled with deflation in producer prices.
This development has incited further worries regarding the state of the world's largest oil importer's economy, as well as the efficacy of its current stimulus measures, which include a recently announced $1.4 trillion package. PVM Oil Associates provided insights into the stimulus package, stating, "The Chinese stimulus package unveiled on Friday will not stimulate consumer confidence and spending since it focuses on easing the debt burden of local governments." Furthermore, it was noted that consumer prices had risen at the slowest pace in the previous month, suggesting that the newest support measures are unlikely to reinvigorate the country's oil demand growth or crude oil imports. Gold prices fell sharply, declining 2.8% to $2,620.71 per ounce, while silver prices also slumped by 2.5% to settle at $30.66.
The decline in these commodities corresponds with the recent rise of the dollar, which reached its peak level since July. The US dollar index was observed climbing 0.5% to 105.52 — its highest mark since early July, largely attributed to the rally that originated following the victory of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov.
5 elections, further fueled by a second cut to US interest rates last Thursday. On another note, Treasury markets remained closed on Monday in observance of the Veterans Day holiday. In corporate updates, AbbVie ($ABBV) reported a substantial drop of over 12% in its shares during intraday trading, marking it among the poorest performers in the S&P 500.
This downturn follows the announcement that its phase 2 trials on emraclidine, aimed at treating adult patients with schizophrenia and severe psychotic symptoms, had not met their primary objectives. In contrast, Cigna Group ($CI) announced that it would not be pursuing a merger with Humana ($HUM) and communicated its plans to convey this message to investors and analysts in the forthcoming weeks.
Subsequently, Cigna shares soared by 7.9%, marking a significant rise among the top performers in the S&P 500..