Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
- US stocks ended Monday's session mixed. The energy sector jumped alongside crude oil prices.
- Brent and WTI oil soared after OPEC+ announced production cuts will start in May.
- Tech stocks were weighed by the renewed prospect of higher interest rates.
US stocks finished Monday's session mixed as a jump in crude prices carried oil shares up at the start of the second quarter while recently high-flying tech stocks were pulled down.
The S&P 500's energy sector was thrust in the spotlight, logging its best day in six months as Brent and WTI oil prices surged. The rally in energy was set off after OPEC and its allies on Sunday surprised markets by announcing production cuts of 1.1 million barrels a day starting in May.
Brent crude climbed above $86 a barrel for the first time in nearly one month. A climb in Chevron stock helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher. Elsewhere, ConocoPhillips gained more than 9% during the day, and offshore driller Schlumberger advanced.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Monday:
- S&P 500:4,124.51, up 0.37%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,601.15, up 0.98% (327 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 12,189.45, down 0.27%
"While the OPEC+ cuts are expected to tighten the oil market and may well provide further support to prices in the near-term, the longer-term outlook remains uncertain," Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index, wrote in a Monday note.
"After all, a side effect will be a fresh inflationary jolt to the world economy," he said. "This in turn may mean even more rate increases than was priced in last week."
Tech stocks fell on the prospect that more rate hikes may be in the Fed's pipeline. Future earnings from those growth companies would be hurt by higher rates.
Tech stocks soared in the first quarter of 2023 but Morgan Stanley's top stock strategist Mike Wilson warned Monday that the bear market in US equities has "unfinished business" despite the tech rally.
Here's what else is happening today:
- Tesla shares fell as first-quarter deliveries show a growing inventory buildup.
- Bank of America's sell-side indicator suggests the S&P 500 will surge 16% over the next 12 months.
- Binance and NBA star Jimmy Butler were hit with fresh class action lawsuit for touting crypto.
- NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo kept his money in several bank accounts because of the FDIC's $250,000 limit.
- The world's largest AI fund has jumped 23% this year, beating even the hot Nasdaq index
- Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman said commercial real estate is next in the crosshairs of turmoil in global banking.
- Economist Mohamed El-Erian warned of the "biggest Fed policy mistake in several decades".
- ChatGPT will not transform the US economy in the next decade, according to Nobel laureate Paul Krugman.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude surged 6.4% at $80.39 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, leapt 6.6% to $85.06.
- Gold picked up 0.7% to $2,000 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield turned lower, falling seven basis points to 3.98%.
- Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $28,151.05.