Stocks ended Monday's choppy session mixed, with the broader market declining while the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new record closing high. Wall Street was pressured throughout the day after several big stocks like ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC) and Discovery (NASDAQ: DISCA) were linked to the forced liquidation of positions held by Archegos Capital Management, which reports said totaled more than $20 million.
Meanwhile, investors rejoiced that the massive container ship stuck in the Suez Canal was finally dislodged after blocking the water way for nearly a week, harming the global economy by halting one of the world's most important shipping lanes. However, shipments are still expected to be delayed due to many ship re-routing along the coast of Africa. The true impact of the blocked canal has yet to be fully realized.
Here's how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.09% or -3.44 points to 3,971.10
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.30% or +98.49 points to 33,171.37
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.60% or -79.08 points to 13,059.65
For Stocks, Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Nomura (NYSE: NMR) warned investors that their first quarter earnings may be affected by the liquidation of stock positions by Archegos, while other financial stocks like Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) fell lower as government bond yields increased.
For Sector Performance, sectors ended the volatile session on Monday mixed, with Utilities (NYSE: XLU), Consumer Staples (NYSE: XLP) and Communication Services (NYSE: XLC) leading gains, while Financials (NYSE: XLF) and Energy (NYSE: XLE) led losses.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) rose on Monday as investors turned to the safe-haven following the hedge fund's default. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies, settled up at 92.825 after reaching session highs of 92.919. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices slipped on the strengthening dollar and optimism towards a faster U.S. economic recovery. Spot gold declined 1.1% to $1,713.52 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 1.2% lower at $1,711.60 per ounce. Crude oil futures rose over 1% on Monday following a choppy trading day, having fallen earlier in the session after the container ship in the Suez Canal was refloated. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) rose to $64.98 per barrel, while domestic index West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) increasing to $61.56 each.
For Tuesday, market participants will react to the fallout from Archegos Capital default and look ahead to the March jobs report this Friday.