US Stocks Rebound As Tech Surges, CrowdStrike Continues Selloff, Oil Hits 1-Month Lows: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Wall Street started the new week on a positive note, with all major indices in the green. A rebound in tech stocks following last week’s dips bolstered overall investor sentiment. Investors focused on the start of the tech earnings season, looking past President Joe Biden‘s withdrawal from the reelection campaign.

Semiconductor stocks, which plunged last week due to threats of increased curbs on China, rallied on Monday. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF SMH and the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX both rose by 2.5%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index surged 1% by 12:40 p.m. in New York, poised to snap a three-day losing streak. The S&P 500 edged up 0.7%, while blue-chip stocks in the Dow Jones took a breather. Small-cap stocks showed a 0.4% gain.

In the election arena, betting-implied odds of Kamala Harris winning the November election rose to 29% after Biden dropped his reelection campaign.

Treasury yields increased, with the 30-year yield up 5 basis points to 4.5%, sending the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT down by 0.7%. The dollar remained steady.

In commodities, metals softened with gold, silver and copper down 0.4%, 0.5% and 1%, respectively. In energy, natural gas spiked by 7%, driven by Freeport LNG resuming shipments after Hurricane Beryl and expectations of higher cooling demand due to hot weather. Oil prices, tracked by the United States Oil Fund USO, fell 0.7%, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude on track to close at its lowest level in over a month.

Bitcoin BTC/USD dropped 1.8%.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.6% higher to $552.42.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA held steady at $402.80.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) rose 1.1% to $480.36.
• Sector-wise, the Technological Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK outperformed, up by 1.6%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE lagged, down 0.5%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. CRWD tumbled 13% after plummeting over 11% Friday, after the cybersecurity company was downgraded by several investment banks, including Scotiabank, Guggenheim and BTIG, coupled with trimmed price target cuts.
• Nvidia Corp. NVDA surged 3.8% after Reuters reported Monday the chipmaker is developing a version of its new flagship Blackwell AI chip tailored for the Chinese market, ensuring it complies with U.S. export controls.
• Verizon Communications Inc. VZ fell 6.4% in reaction to quarterly results that showed earnings broadly matching expectations but a miss on the revenue front.
• Other stocks reacting to company earnings were Truist Financial Corp. TFC, up 2.9% and IQVIA Holdings Inc. IQV, up 6.2%.
• Mattel Inc. MAT rallied over 19% following reports of an acquisition offer by L Catterton.
• Companies expected to report earnings after the close include Cadence Design Systems Inc. CDNS, NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI, Nucor Corp. NUE, Brown & Brown Inc. BRO and W.R. Berkley Corp. WRB.

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