Stocks waver on Wall Street on first day of trading in May

NEW YORK –

After a difficult April, when major benchmarks were dragged down by widespread technology sell-offs, stocks are now off to a mixed May start. The S&P 500 was drifting between small gains and losses in the early going Monday, as was the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Nasdaq rose 0.4%. Crude oil prices fell 4%. The Federal Reserve is expected to increase its interest rates by an additional 4% this week as it attempts to control inflation, which has reached its highest point in over 40 years. The yield on bonds continued to rise. The 10-year Treasury note yield climbed to 2.977%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Below is the original story by AP.

NEW YORK, (AP) — The U.S. market floundered in May’s first trading day following a massive sell-off by tech stocks last month which saw major indexes drop.

After futures pointed higher in early trading, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.1%.

Oil prices fell nearly $4 per barrel as European energy ministers met to discuss Russian supply issues.

The holiday period in China, Britain and other Asian markets saw trading closed.

Midday trading saw the CAC 40 in Paris drop 2% and Germany’s DAX fall 1.3%.

As the Federal Reserve attempts to curb four-decades of high inflation, traders are anxiously awaiting another rate hike this week. A second round of rate increases will increase borrowing costs for everyone, including those who buy cars, use credit cards, and take out mortgages to purchase homes.

On Friday, steep losses for technology stocks pushed the S&P 500 down 3.6% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4%, finishing April down 13.3% in its biggest monthly loss since 2008.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.8% while Russell 2000 fell 2.8%.

Stephen Innes, SPI Asset Management says “The truth is that equity risk sentiment is terrible: and Bull/Bear readings show bulls have never had worse off.” saidIn a commentary

Innes: “We are now in an extremely fragile market that’s delivering outsized moves with shallow liquidity levels — especially in Tech where growth is getting slammed.” said.

Investors have also been looking at financial results from large tech companies, industrial businesses, and retailers. Some disappointing results or outlooks by Apple, Google’s parent, and Amazon helped fuel last week’s selling.

Unconfirmed concern was raised by a report showing that pandemic lockdowns had impacted factory activity in China, the main regional driver for growth.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics published the monthly purchasing manager’s index on Saturday. This was down from 49.5 in February, which was a 100-point scale. Below 50 numbers indicate activity contracting.

The COVID-19 epidemics in China have had a negative impact on China’s market demand and factory activity. saidZhao Qinghe is the bureau’s statistician.

Some businesses have cut or stopped production. This can lead to disruptions in both logistics and the supply of raw materials and components.

Shanghai, China’s largest city, was locked down for most of April. Beijing, China’s capital, is currently conducting mass testing on millions of its residents.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 0.1% to finish at 26,818.53. Tokyo trading will close Tuesday through Thursday due to national holidays. It will reopen on Friday.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.2% to 7,347.00. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.3% to 2,687.45.

The EU energy ministers met to discuss Russia’s decision to reduce gas supplies to Bulgaria, Poland, and to debate a sixth round sanctions regarding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The ministers of energy also plan to consider what steps they should take if Russia raises its gas supply to other countries.

The benchmark U.S. crude oil fell by $3.87 to $100.82 a bar in electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, it fell 67 cents to $104.69 a barrel.

Brent crude, an international standard, fell 3.52 to $103.62/barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 129.70 Japanese Yuen in currency trading from 129.83. The euro was $1.0527. This is a slight decrease from $1.0546.