Stocks were mixed at the start of the second quarter as an oil output cut from OPEC+ renewed some inflation and recession fears on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 300 points, while the S&P 500 Index rose nearly 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.3%.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.37% or +15.20 points to 4,124.51
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.98% or +327.00 points to 33,601.15
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.27% or -32.45 points to 12,189.45
Taking the spotlight during Monday's session, OPEC and its allies announced over the weekend that the group is slashing production by 1.16 million barrels of oil per day starting in May through the end of the year.
Crude oil prices were considerably higher on the news, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) climbing over 6% to trade at roughly $80 per barrel. International benchmark Brent crude (NYSE: BNO) also rose over 6% to nearly $85 per barrel.
Market participants fear that a rise in oil prices could potentially increase inflationary pressures, which in turn could impact how the Federal Reserve proceeds with its interest rate hiking campaign throughout the rest of the year.
Still, Wall Street has been performing strongly so far this year despite many financial pressures in the first quarter. All three major averages ended the first quarter with gains, with the Nasdaq leading the way with a 16.8% rise. The S&P 500 also added 7% for its second-straight positive quarter, while the Dow advanced 0.4%.
JPMorgan analysts said Monday that the market is beginning to move on from the banking crisis that overshadowed much of March.
"Given the recovery in risk assets, the market is seemingly moving on from the banking crisis and back to macro trading environment," the traders wrote in a note, quoted by CNBC. "The lack of an April Fed meeting puts additional emphasis on the April data prints as we kick off earnings in less than 2 weeks."
In economic news out Monday, a reading on the U.S. manufacturing sector showed a contraction in activity for March.
The ISM's Manufacturing Index posted a reading of 46.3 for the month, down from 47.7 in February and below Wall Street estimates. March's reading was the index's worst in three years, with readings below the neutral level of 50 indicating contraction.
In single-stock news, World Wrestling Entertainment has agreed to merge with UFC to form a new publicly traded company under Endeavor Group with the ticker "TKO". Endeavor will hold 51% of the new company, and WWE holding the other 49%. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) deliveries for the first-quarter were weaker-than-expected at 422,875 vehicles. However, this was a record quarter for the electric carmaker, with first-quarter deliveries increasing 36% year-over-year.
Looking ahead, there are several key economic reports slated for this week, including job openings data out Tuesday, ADP private payrolls report on Wednesday and March's monthly jobs report on Friday.