U.S. stocks took a hit during trading Monday after the Institute for Supply Management's report on domestic manufacturing activity showed a less than expected reading. All three major averages posted their largest one-day decline since October.
Here's how the market closed for the first day of trading in December:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
The ISM manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for November read 48.1, which is a drop from October's 48.3 and is below the consensus economists expected reading of 49.2. This is the fourth month in a row where the U.S.'s PMI is below the neutral level of 50, which means this is the fourth month of contraction or loss of growth.
A separate report from the U.S. Commerce Department Monday showed U.S. spending on construction projects fell by 0.8% in October, where an increase of 0.4% was expected. IHS Markit's PMI report on Monday conversely showed strong numbers for November, noting that the month's PMI is at a seven-month high amid a stronger upturn in new orders.
In Political News, President Donald Trump announced Monday in a tweet that he would reimpose tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina. This new set of trade tariffs adds to the lingering resentment from China over Trump's signing of Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. This new uncertainty surrounding global trade is weighing on investors and may affect the stock market as the year ends.
In Stock Sectors News, most of the eleven sectors saw stock losses during trade Monday. The few that saw market gains today include Consumer Staples +0.26% and Energy +0.03%. The others that saw losses today include Real Estate -1.75%, Industrials -1.61%, Information Technology -1.40%, Materials -0.94%, Communication Services -0.87%, Utilities -0.77%, Consumer Discretionary -0.76%, Financials -0.65%, and Health Care -0.44%.
Lastly, in Commodity and Currency News, oil prices produced mixed results Monday. West Texas Intermediate's prices gained just under +1% whereas Brent Crude's barrel prices plummeted -2.45%. U.S. Natural Gas's Henry Hub increased around +1.30%. On the other hand, price of gold started December in the negative, with prices dropping almost -0.50%. Finally, the U.S. Dollar also fell from the gains it made last week. The DXY Index read a drop of close to -0.50%.
