The Dow Jones Industrial was up 0.20 percent at the close. and amounted to 38,790.43 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.63% at the end of the day. and amounted to 5,149.42 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.82%. and closed the session at 16,103.45 points. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap companies lost 0.67%. and amounted to 2,025.40 points. The VIX volatility index fell by 0.42 percent, to 14.35 points.
“We are in a seasonally weak period and people don't really know what to do.”
“Today's topic is the pivot to technology,” said Jay Hatfield, founder and CEO of Infracap. “We're in a seasonally weak period and people don't really know what to do, so they alternate between selling technology and the rest of the market,” he added. Hatfield expects the stock market rally to pick up significantly again in April, when the next earnings season begins.
Investors are also eagerly awaiting the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week. The two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee will begin on Tuesday and end with an announcement on Wednesday.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, investors are withdrawing bets on a June interest rate cut to about 59%. with 71 percent last Monday. “While the recent decline in technology stocks may be due to concerns that the market has gone too far and portfolio concentration is too high, we believe investors can find attractive diversification opportunities with the next AI leaders,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“This week's Fed meeting could determine the direction of the market, especially if the Fed communicates that interest rates must remain unchanged for an extended period of time. This may be what is needed for the market to absorb the gains and consolidate ahead of the start of the new earnings season,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial.
Investors will pay attention to the developer conference
Investors will be paying attention to Nvidia's GTC developer conference, which will be held March 18-21, and will be scrutinized for AI-related announcements. Shares of the AI giant increased by 0.7% at the end of the day. Micron shares rose 0.5% and Advanced Micro Devices fell 0.2%.
Alphabet gained 5%. following media reports that Apple is in talks to build the Google Gemini AI engine into the iPhone. Tesla rose by more than 6 after the electric car maker said it would raise the price of its Model Y electric vehicles in some European countries by about 2,000 euros or the equivalent in local currencies on March 22. Xpeng shares listed on the US stock exchange rose almost 2%. amid the company's plans to launch a cheaper brand of electric vehicles in the face of stiff price competition.
Boeing lost 1.5 percent. following media reports that a federal grand jury in Seattle issued a subpoena for the aircraft manufacturer in connection with the Jan. 5 explosion of a Boeing door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight. Super Micro Computer fell 6%. before the company's first day of trading in the S&P 500 index.
The sentiment index among American construction companies, prepared by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), increased to 51 points in March. with 48 points in last month. The market expected the index to be 48 points. On the oil market, WTI contracts for April are up by 2.22%. to USD 82.84 per barrel, and May Brent futures increase by 1.91%. up to USD 86.97/b.
