© Reuters. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, May 30, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDiarmid
Written by Noel Randwich and Shresty A. Ashar
(Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended lower on Monday as investors weighed whether the U.S. Federal Reserve might pause interest rate hikes at its next policy meeting, while Apple Inc briefly hit a record high before losing ground.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: ) closed down 0.8% after the world’s most valuable company unveiled an augmented reality headset called the Vision Pro, its riskiest and biggest bet since the introduction of the iPhone. Earlier, Apple shares rose as much as 2.2% to an all-time high.
Other growth heavyweights were mixed, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:: Corp) falling 0.4%, paring some of its recent gains, and Tesla (NASDAQ:: Inc) adding 1.7% after the electric car maker’s sales of China-made cars jumped in China. . in May.
The S&P 500 closed Friday at its highest level in more than nine months after a report showed that wage growth moderated in May.
After a stronger-than-expected earnings season and expectations that the Fed may halt an aggressive monetary tightening cycle, the S&P 500 is up nearly 20% from its October low, buoyed by gains in tech-heavy stocks including Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:).
Bolstering expectations that the Federal Reserve may hold off on raising interest rates, a survey by the Institute for Supply Management showed that the U.S. services sector barely grew in May as new orders slowed, pushing a measure of the prices businesses pay for inputs to a three-year low, which It can help the Fed fight against inflation.
“This bad news is good news for the Fed. And bad news, which means weak economic reports, is actually good news because it makes it more likely that the Fed will halt its series of interest rate increases, thinking that they are starting to do rate hikes,” Tim said. Gresky, senior portfolio analyst Ingalls & Snyder in New York: “Inflation-lowering hoax.”
Traders have priced in a near 80% chance that the Federal Reserve will suspend interest rates at its policy meeting scheduled for June 13-14, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) FedWatch tool, although they expect another hike in July.
The S&P 500 fell 0.20% to end the session at 4,273.79 points.
The Nasdaq index decreased by 0.09%, to 13,229.43 points, while it decreased by 0.59%, to 33,562.86 points.
Among the 11 S&P 500 sector indices, seven declined, led by the industrial sector, down 0.71%, followed by a 0.58% loss in energy.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:) Inc rose 4.4%, with the cybersecurity firm set to replace Dish Network (NASDAQ:: Corp) on June 20. Shares of Dish fell 2.7%.
Major US banks fell after the Wall Street Journal reported that US regulators were preparing to tighten rules for large banks, which could include increasing capital requirements by an average of 20%.
Declines outnumbered gainers within the S&P 500 by a ratio of 1.5 to one.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new highs and four new lows; The Nasdaq index posted 90 new highs and 54 new lows.
Trading volume on US stock exchanges was relatively light, with 9.7 billion shares changed hands, compared to an average of 10.5 billion shares during the previous 20 sessions.