Stocks were mixed Monday as Wall Street begins the second quarter as investors traded with caution amid concerns over the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting timeline as stocks remain near record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 240 points, while the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1%.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.20% or -10.58 points to 5,243.77
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.60% or -240.52 points to 39,566.85
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.11% or +17.37 points to 16,396.83
Zoom In:
Investors remain cautious on Monday following comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, with the Fed chief telling public radio's "Marketplace" show that U.S. economic growth remains positive while inflation continues to hold above the central bank's target.
"That means we don't need to be in a hurry to cut [interest rates]," Powell said. "The economy is strong right now, and the labor market is strong right now. And inflation has been coming down. We can and we will be careful about this decision because we can be."
On the Economic Front:
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded for the first time in 17 months in March, according to the ISM monthly reading on the sector released Monday. The headline manufacturing index rose to a more-than-expected 50.3 from 47.8 in February -- the index measures the percentage of companies reporting growth over contraction, with reading above 50 indicating growth for the sector.
Beneath the headline, production saw the biggest gains, rising 6.2 points to 54.6, while prices increase to 55.8 and employment showed contraction at 47.4.
In the News:
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said Monday it will sell its business chat and video app Teams as a separate product from its Office productivity suite in global markets in a bid to avert a possible antitrust lawsuit from the European Union.
"To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and o365 in the European Economic Areas and Switzerland to customers globally," a company spokesperson said, quoted by Reuters, adding that this decision "addresses feedback" from the European regulator by "providing multinational companies more flexibility."
The tech giant said in a blogpost that existing customers can either continue their current licensing deal, renew, update, or switch to its new offerings starting April 1.
United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) has asked pilots to take unpaid leave next month due to delivery delays from Boeing (NYSE: BA), according to a note sent to pilots seen by CNBC.
"Due to recent changes to our Boeing deliveries, the remaining 20204 forecast block hours fro United have been significantly reduced," the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said in a note to members Friday, quoted by CNBC. "While the delivery issuers surround our 787 and 737 fleets, the impact will affect other fleets as well."
For Tuesday:
Market participants will mull over fresh economic data on job openings for February, as well as more Fedspeak as they access the central bank's possible next moves.