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Financial Markets 11/02 15:22
NEW YORK (AP) -- A morning rally for U.S. stocks petered out on Monday as
the tech and AI industries remained shaky following their sell-off last week.
The S&P 500 sank 0.5% after erasing a gain that had reached 1.1% early in
the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 213 points, or 0.4%, while the
Nasdaq composite fell 1.1%.
The mixed performance for indexes came even though the majority of stocks
within the S&P 500 climbed. They benefited from a 7.6% drop for the price of a
barrel of Brent crude to $104.77. It's the latest yo-yo move for oil prices on
uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global industry to
return to normal.
The price for the most actively traded contract in the Brent market has been
veering between roughly $70 and $120 per barrel since just before the war with
Iran began, and it's been quick to reverse direction.
So have stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry, which have been
shaky for months amid criticism that they surged too high and are in a bubble.
Worries are growing that all the hundreds of billions of dollars Big Tech
companies are pouring into AI data centers won't yield enough productivity and
profit to make the investments worth it.
The latest profit reports from Alphabet and other Big Tech companies also
showed how AI may be dragging on their own businesses. Not only did Google's
parent company burn through more cash during the latest quarter, as measured by
something called free cash flow, it also reported slower-than-expected growth
in its search business, which raised worries about AI undercutting its cash
cow. That caused Alphabet's stock to drop more than 12% Thursday for its worst
day on record.
On Monday, Alphabet initially rallied 2.6%, but it later erased the gain and
then finished with a loss of 0.3%. Nvidia, meanwhile, went from an early gain
of 2.6% to a drop of 1.3% following its 4.2% slide on Friday. Such swings
dragged the rest of the market with them.
Adding to the weakness in tech was Marvell Technology, which fell 12.7%
after saying it would buy Lumentum. Marvell said it will give 4.5 of its shares
for each share of Lumentum, which sells lasers and other products that power
the networks and infrastructure behind AI and cloud computing. Lumentum's
shares fell 18.6%.
Outside of AI and tech, the U.S. market did much better, and nearly seven
out of every 10 stocks in the S&P 500 index rose.
Monday's ease in oil prices helped lift stocks of companies with big fuel
bills. United Airlines flew 4.8% higher, Southwest Airlines climbed 3.6% and
cruise operator Carnival rose 4.2%.
Marriott International rose 4.3% after reporting strength for its hotels
around the world. Even in the Middle East, where the war has affected its
business, CEO Anthony Capuano said that "trends improved meaningfully" from the
spring.
Idexx Laboratories leaped 21.8% after it likewise reported stronger profit
and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which
sells diagnostic equipment and other products to veterinarians, also raised its
forecasts for revenue and profit for the full year of 2026.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 38.67 points to 7,541.40. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average rose 213.67 to 51,983.98, and the Nasdaq composite fell
272.68 to 25,164.32.
Expectations are high for all kinds of companies to continue to deliver big
gains in profits as the U.S. economy keeps chugging along, even with high
inflation and interest rates. That's what helped send the S&P 500 to its record
last month.
A report on Monday said that growth for U.S. manufacturing was better last
month than economists expected. Perhaps just as importantly, a measure of
inflation in the survey by the Institute for Supply Management showed prices
were rising at a slower pace.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe.
The swings were larger in Asia, where South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.2% on
renewed strength for the tech giants that dominate its market.
In China, indexes rose 1.1% in Shanghai and 0.4% in Hong Kong to recover
some of their steep recent losses. Stocks in Shanghai finished October more
than 15% below a peak reached in May.
The People's Bank of China said Monday that around 100 billion yuan ($15
billion) would be deployed under a new program that could help support the
market. ___
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this
report.
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