New York, May. 2 (Us): US stocks closed little changed on Monday as investors took to the weekend auction of First Republic Bank and braced for an expected rate hike this week from the Federal Reserve.
The KBW index of regional banks fell 2.7%, while shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co., which won the failed lender First Republic auction, rose 2.1%.
Reuters reports that JPMorgan will pay the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation $10.6 billion to take control of most of the regional bank’s assets.
Investors were worried about the health of the banking system following the collapse of two other regional banks in March.
Market watchers also digested the latest economic news, which suggested to some that the Fed may need to stick to its tightening cycle in the near term. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday that its manufacturing PMI rose last month from March.
The Fed, which has been raising rates to quell inflation, is expected to raise interest rates by an additional 25 basis points on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.46 points, or 0.14%, to 34,051.7 points. The S&P 500 lost 1.61 points, or 0.04%, at 4,167.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 13.99 points, or 0.11%, to 12,212.60.
Energy was the biggest decliner among the major S&P 500 sectors, falling 1.3% as crude oil prices fell.
Gresky said the recent earnings provided some continued optimism for investors. First-quarter results for the S&P 500 companies mostly beat expectations, easing economic concerns.
Recent upbeat earnings from Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Meta Platforms Inc helped the S&P 500 post gains for the second consecutive month on Friday.
The S&P 500 Technology Index rose 0.2% on Monday, offsetting some of the weakness seen on the day.
Trading volume on US exchanges reached 10.24 billion shares, compared to an average of 10.37 billion for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a ratio of 1.36 to 1; On the Nasdaq, the ratio was 1.17 to 1 in favor of declining stocks.
The S&P 500 hit a new 52-week high in 35 weeks and one new low. The Nasdaq index posted 88 new highs and 188 new lows.
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