Blue-chip index Dow slipped to a fresh two-week low on Monday as Boeing shares nosedived following the grounding of some its jets, while a rebound in megacaps and chip stocks supported the other U.S. stock indexes.
Boeing slid 9.1% after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the temporary grounding of some 737 MAX 9 jets fitted with a panel that blew off an Alaska Air Group jet in midair on Friday.
The aircraft manufacturer could lose about $13.5 billion in value if losses hold through market close.
“It could impact the airline sector because the 737 (MAX) is a real workhorse of the many airlines fleets,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
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“So it’s a drag and a real black mark on Boeing and the company has to come out strongly and say how they’re fixing this and how it’s not going to happen again.”
Alaska Air Group slumped 3.9% after the carrier canceled more than 200 flights following the FAA order.
On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 marked its worst week since late October, after mixed economic data turned investors cautious and prompted them to scale back expectations on when the Federal Reserve could begin rate cuts.
Remarks by Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic, a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voting member this year, due at 12:30 p.m. ET, will be parsed for his stance on monetary policy easing. That comes after Dallas’ Lorie Logan warned over the weekend the Fed may need to resume raising its short-term policy rate.
Money markets now see a 64.7% chance of at least a 25-basis-point (bps) rate cut as early as March, down from over 85% in the final weeks of 2023, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Investors were also awaiting two December inflation reports later in the week and commentary by several policymakers for clues on the Fed’s monetary policy trajectory.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, energy led declines with a 2.8% loss as crude prices sank nearly 5%.
At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 185.79 points, or 0.50%, at 37,280.32, the S&P 500 was up 11.73 points, or 0.25%, at 4,708.97, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 104.25 points, or 0.72%, at 14,628.33.
Apple climbed 0.9% after saying its Vision Pro mixed-reality device will be available for sale from Feb. 2 in the United States.
Amazon.com and Alphabet added 1.1% and 0.5% respectively.
Chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices gained more than 3%, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index rebounding with a 1.9% gain from its worst week since October 2022.
JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup lost more than 1% ahead of reporting quarterly earnings on Friday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.20-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 31 new lows.
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