U.S. Stocks Wobble as Investors Try to Shake Off April Weakness
2022.05.02 17:03
By Liz Moyer
Investing.com — U.S. stocks wobbled after Monday’s open as investors tried to put April’s slump behind them and focus on this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.
At 9:50 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, while the S&P 500 was also flat and the NASDAQ Composite inched up 0.2%.
The shaky start to May comes after the Dow lost nearly 5% in April. Tech stocks were even weaker, dragging the Nasdaq down 13% for the month.
Though the Fed meeting doesn’t start until tomorrow — and the interest rate decision won’t come out until Wednesday — investors are already maneuvering for what comes next. Three challenges are weighing on equities: China’s struggle to contain outbreaks of Covid-19 that have led to lockdowns and stoked fears of economic slowdown, the aggressive stance of Fed policymakers in combating inflation, and Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
It was a holiday on Monday in several locations, with markets closed in Hong Kong, China, Russia and the U.K.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares dipped 0.1% after European regulators accused it of misusing its dominant position in the mobile payments business. Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE:SAVE) shares tumbled 8% after it said it wouldn’t accept a takeover bid from JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ:JBLU) and would pursue the previous takeover proposal by Frontier Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ULCC). Shares of JetBlue were flat and Frontier fell 5%.
Oil also fell. The price of Crude Oil WTI Futures slid 3.7%, to $100.80 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude’s price fell 3.4%, to $103.47 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 2.9%, to $1856 an ounce.
