S&P 500 cuts losses, but Apple-led slip in tech weighs

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 cut losses Monday but upside momentum was kept in check by an Apple-infused slip in big tech and jitters about further Federal Reserve tightening following a strong March jobs report.

The S&P 500 was down 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, or 52 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%.

Apple personal computer shipments declined by 40.5% in the first quarter, according to market research firm IDC, impacted by weak demand and high inventory.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell about 2%, with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also leading to the downside.

Sentiment on growth sectors including tech was also hurt by a rise in Treasury yields on expectations the March nonfarm payrolls report, released on Friday, pointing to a robust jobs market could encourage the Federal Reserve to further tighten monetary policy.

The U.S. economy created 236,000 jobs in March, roughly in line with economist forecasts, the unemployment rate slipped to 3.5%, and wage growth rose to 0.3% for the month as expected.

“Low unemployment coupled with sticky inflation trends could still provide the Federal Reserve with cover to push interest rates higher in the near-term,” RBC said in a note.

A more than 7% surge in Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) helped boost chip stocks, partially offsetting weakness in the broader tech sector as production cuts from rival Samsung (KS:005930) are expected to help restore the supply and demand imbalance in the memory chip sector.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM), however, fell more than 1% after reporting weaker-than-expected sales in Q1 for the second straight quarter as weaker chip demand continues to weigh.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), meanwhile, said it plans to build a large new battery facility in Shanghai but also announced price cuts across all four model lines in the U.S., the fifth since the turn of the year, stoking concerns about margin prices for the EV maker.

Energy stocks shrugged off the slip in oil prices as Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) rallied 6% following a Wall Street Journal report that Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) had held informal discussions to acquire the fracking giant.

Financials were slightly higher on the day as some regional banks including First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) turned positive ahead of the quarterly earnings season.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) kick off the quarterly earnings season in earnest on Friday.

Bank earnings will serve as a gauge of stress in the banking sector, particularly for regional banks following the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank.