S&P 500 Turns Positive as Growth Stocks Shrug Off Global Economic Worries

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 turned positive Monday, as consumer and tech rebounded to offset falling energy stocks amid fresh concerns about global growth.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%, or 166 points, the Nasdaq was up 0.7%.

Growth sectors of the market, including tech and consumer discretionary, rebounded from session lows to help stocks move off the lowest levels of the day.

Retail as well as travel and leisure stocks led the push higher in consumer stocks, shrugging off weaker-than-expected economic data from the China and U.S.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE:CMG) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) were among the biggest gainers in the sector.

The August Empire State index, a measure of manufacturing activity in New York area, unexpectedly fell to -31.3 from 11.1, confounding expectations for a reading of 5.0.

Economists, however, downplayed the data, with Pantheon Macroeconomists reminding market participants that the “Empire State is a small regional survey and it is not definitive evidence of anything.”

The weaker-than-expected regional manufacturing report added to worries about economic growth following a slew of data overnight showing a slowdown in China industrial production and retail sales.

Treasury yields continued to retreat, pushing big tech into positive territory and extended gains following a more than 2% gain last week.

Snap (NYSE:SNAP), meanwhile, gained more than 6% after announcing that its subscription service Snapchat+ had surpassed 1 million paid users.  

Energy, however, fell more than 1% as oil prices plunged as investors weigh the impact of slowing global growth on energy demand.

In other news, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shares were up 3% after after activist investor Daniel Loeb took a new stake in the company and called on it to consider spinning off its sports network ESPN. 

Walmart (NYSE:WMT), meanwhile, reportedly reached a deal with Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARAA) to offer Paramount+ streaming service to subscribers of Walmart+, the retailer's paid subscription service that provides a slew of benefits including free deliveries and fuel discounts.

Over the coming days, investor attention will shift to the strength of the consumer and monetary policy, with the release of retail sales data for July, and the minutes of the Fed's July meeting.

The minutes "might offer few clues as to whether the FOMC will hike by 50bps or 75bps next month,"  Daiwa Capital Markets.