Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed lower Monday as Treasury yields climbed as Fed speakers continue to echo the need for more gradual pace of rate cuts, though a Nvidia-led climb in tech kept losses in check.
At 4:00 p.m.ET (2000 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 344 points, or 0.8%, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.3%.
Treasury yields rise as Fed speakers call for modest cuts
The 2-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to Fed policy, jumped 7 basis points to 4.025%, and the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4%, as investors appear more cautious over the rate cut path ahead.
The rise in rates come as Fed speakers caution on a fast pace of rate cuts ahead.
"Right now I see modest cuts over the next quarters," Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said.
Nvidia swells to record ahead of tech earnings
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) jumped 4% to close at a fresh record high, taking its market cap above $3.5 trillion for the first time ever, keeping a lid on losses in the broader market as investors looked ahead to the start of big tech earnings.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be the biggest company to report this week, on Wednesday, with the electric vehicle maker’s earnings in close focus after the revealing of its robotaxi earlier this month largely underwhelmed.
Prints from a string of major chipmaking firms are also due this week, coming after earnings from industry bellwethers ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) and TSMC (NYSE:TSM) provided mixed cues on demand.
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN), Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) and Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) are among the majors chip stocks set to report, while in the broader tech sector, IBM (NYSE:IBM), is also due this week.
Beyond tech, earnings from major defense firms are also due this week, with Rtx Corp (NYSE:RTX), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX), General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) set to report in the coming days.
Telecom majors T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) are also due.
Boeing proposes new contract to end machinists strike; Kenvue in activist crosshairs
Planemaker Boeing (NYSE:BA), which is set to report quarterly results on Wednesday, rose more than 3% after unveiling a new proposal to its machinists' union, with members of the union set to vote on the proposal on Wednesday.
Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE) stock rose over 5% after it was reported activist investor Starboard Value has taken a stake in the consumer products firm behind brands like Band-Aid and Listerine which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last year.
Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) stock soared 52% after the carrier reached an agreement with the U.S. Bank National Association to extend a deadline by which it must extend or refinance its 2025 bonds to maintain its credit-card processing agreement with the bank.
Quiet economic data week
It’s set to be a relatively quiet week on the U.S. economic calendar, but investors will get an update on the health of the housing sector with reports due out on both existing and new home sales. There are also reports on durable goods orders, consumer sentiment and initial jobless claims.
On Wednesday, the Fed will publish its Beige Book, a readout on economic conditions in the central bank’s 12 districts.
Market participants will also get a chance to hear from several regional Fed officials during the week, including Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)