U.S. stocks were mostly lower in choppy trading early Monday, feeling some pressure as worries over China’s property sector weighed on global markets.
How stocks are trading
-
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
fell 72 points, or 0.2%, to 35,209. -
The S&P 500
SPX
was off 3 points, or 0.1%, at 4,461. -
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP
was little changed near 13,646.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite logged back-to-back weekly losses on Friday, while the Dow bucked the trend to post a 0.6% gain.
What’s driving markets
A sour tone from Asia was containing any rise in risk assets on Monday after Country Garden Holdings Co.
2007,
China’s biggest home builder, saw its shares plunge to another record low on news it was suspending trading in some 11 of its mainland bonds. The news added to fears about the health of the world’s second-biggest economy and left Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HK:HSI
down 1.7%.
“These latest developments come hot on the heels of weaker-than-expected lending data on Friday, adding to concerns about a stalling economic recovery. They also put more weight on the July indicators for fixed-asset investment, industrial output and retail sales due on Tuesday for more clues about the health of the Chinese economy,” Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM, said in a note.
Also see: Country Garden’s stock slumps 18% after Morgan Stanley downgrade and bond suspension
The S&P 500 recorded two consecutive weeks of losses, shedding 2.6% in the process, after the rally in many big technology stocks such as Apple
AAPL,
and Nvidia
NVDA,
faltered.
Choppiness in the benchmark 10-year Treasury
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
yield — which has moved to within several basis points of its highest level since the great financial crisis of 2008-09, partly on expectations of increased government issuance — has discouraged stock bulls.
With more than 90% of the S&P 500 having reported, the second-quarter earnings season is starting to wind down, although retailers will be a feature in the coming days as Home Depot
HD,
Target
TGT,
and Walmart
WMT,
present their numbers. July retail-sales data is due Tuesday morning.
“Stronger-than-expected retail sales could fuel the idea that the U.S. economy will fall on its four feet and avoid recession amid the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening cycle, but it won’t necessarily impact inflation expectations,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a note.
“But anyway, strong sales data and encouraging earnings could halt bleeding in U.S. stocks” after back-to-back declines for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, she said.
Companies in focus
-
United States Steel Corp.
X,
+26.14%
shares surged 24.3% after Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
CLF,
+2.48%
announced Sunday it had made a $7.3 billion takeover bid that was rejected by the steelmaker’s board. Earlier Sunday, U.S. Steel said it was reviewing “strategic alternatives” after receiving multiple unsolicited acquisition proposals. Cleveland-Cliffs shares rose 1.7%. -
Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
AMC,
-37.17%
slumped 38% after a Delaware court on Friday approved a revised, but still controversial, stock-conversion plan for the movie-theater chain. The ruling saw AMC preferred equity units
APE,
+12.08%
jump 6.5%. -
Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-1.85%
shares fell 2.4% after the electric-vehicle maker cut the cost of two versions of its Model Y SUVs on Sunday.
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