US equity indexes experienced a decline as government bond yields fell and the dollar weakened following a significant poll that raised doubts about increasing expectations for former President Donald Trump's return to The White House. The S&P 500 dropped 0.3% to 5,710.5 by midday Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.7% to 41,773.2.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.3% to 18,179.4. Notably, the energy sector emerged as the top gainer during the intraday session, whereas the utilities sector recorded the largest losses. The US Dollar index declined by 0.5% to 103.8 by early Monday afternoon, relinquishing some of its previous gains attributed to the expected Trump trade.
Concurrently, most US Treasury yields saw intraday declines, with the 10-year yield down seven basis points to 4.29%, and the two-year rate falling 4.7 basis points to 4.16%. A much-anticipated poll from Selzer De Moines Register Iowa, released on Saturday, revealed Vice President Kamala Harris holding a three-point lead in a state where polling averages positioned Trump nine points ahead, according to a commentary from Deutsche Bank. "Many political commentators had been awaiting this poll as it enjoys one of the strongest track records among pollsters, with FiveThirtyEight highlighting Selzer as 'the best pollster in politics'," said Jim Reid, head of global fundamental credit strategy at Deutsche Bank. In the realm of economic news, new orders for US factory goods decreased by 0.5% in September, aligning with forecasts from a Bloomberg survey, following a revised 0.8% drop in August.
Excluding a notable 3.1% decline in transportation orders, new orders would have shown a slight increase of 0.1% after a 0.2% drop in August. In corporate developments, Nvidia's shares increased by 1.8% after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Nvidia will replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective Friday.
Meanwhile, Intel's shares plummeted 4.4% intraday, ranking among the worst performers in the Dow, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500. West Texas Intermediate crude oil surged by 2.5% to $71.25 per barrel..