Dow Jones Closes Flat While Nasdaq Losses Deepen; Visa, American Express Stock Outperform

After trading positively, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday’s session at break-even while the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 traded lower. Technology stocks led the downside as the Nasdaq’s losses continued to deepen into the close.

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The majority of the S&P 500 sectors traded in the negative, with energy stocks and technology leading the downside. The Energy Select Spider ETF (XLE) lost over 3.5% while the Technology Select Spider ETF (XLK) lost nearly 2%. Financial stocks led the upside with a gains of more than 1%.

Dow Jones In Stock Market Today

At the close, the indexes continued to deepened their losses after trading positively earlier in Monday’s session. The Dow Jones industrials, however, closed flat after dipping into the negative near the close. Blue chips faired the best after trading higher most of the afternoon. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, lost over 2% while the S&P 500 fell 0.7%. The Russell 2000 traded 2% lower as small-cap stocks were also hammered.

U.S. crude oil futures fell to $101.40 a barrel, down more than 7% in today’s market. Reports on Monday mentioned that the U.S. is considering easing sanctions on Venezuela to help boost the overall supply of oil.

Early data showed volume was running higher on the Nasdaq and on the NYSE vs. the close on Friday. When indexes sell off into the close in heavy volume, this is typically not a good sign for bullish investors and indicated institutional distribution rather than accumulation. Elsewhere, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note continued to rise above 2% on Monday and closed around 2.14%, surging 14 basis points.

Economists widely expect Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to raise the federal funds rate to a target range of 0.25%-0.5% on Wednesday. The Fed is readying up to fight the recent spike in inflation with interest-rate hikes. But the question of how quickly the rate hikes will occur remains an unknown factor weighing on investors.

Financial stocks outperformed in the S&P 500, including regional banks like Fifth Third (FITB), Northern Trust (NTRS), KeyCorp (KEY) and Regions Financial (RF), up more than 3.5% each.

Among Dow Jones stocks, financial stock American Express (AXP) led the upside with a gain of 3%. AXP stock is back above its 200-day moving average, but the 50-day line around 178.50 remains a potential resistance level to watch.

Fellow credit card company Visa (V) also led the upside with gains of 2.1%. Meanwhile, Nike (NKE) and Chevron (CVX) led the downside with losses of 4% and 3%, respectively. Tech stocks Apple (AAPL), Salesforce.com (CRM) and Intel (INTC) also led the downside with losses of over 2% each.

IBD 50 Stocks To Watch

The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) sank 2.9%, led by losses in coal energy stock Warrior Met Coal (HCC) and LSB Industries (LXU), which fell 1o% each. Several mining stocks also traded lower including MP Materials (MP), Vale (VALE) and Southern Copper (SCCO). Each of these traded over 6% lower.

On the upside, shipping stocks, including Zim Integrated Shipping (ZIM) and Matson (MATX), were among top gainers.

Meanwhile, IBD 50 stock and leading health care company UnitedHealth Group (UNH) inched closer toward a buy zone. The stock is a slow mover but rose over 1% on Monday as shares continued to approach a 501.03 buy point of a double-bottom base. The stock’s RS line also hit a new high on Monday ahead of the breakout, a bullish sign.

Follow Rachel Fox on Twitter at @IBD_RFox for more Dow Jones and stock market commentary.

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