U.S. equities showed a mixed performance on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging up 0.1% to 53,340 points, while the S&P 500 declined 0.3% to 7,654 points. The Nasdaq 100, heavily weighted toward technology, fell 0.8% to 29,070 points, pressured by declines in chip-related names.
Negative momentum from Asian markets and upcoming Nvidia quarterly results after the bell contributed to the tech sector’s underperformance. Speculation over potential price increases from the AI chip leader due to rising production costs also weighed on sentiment. Among the Magnificent Seven—Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla—Nvidia and Tesla were the notable laggards, each down 2.5%. The remaining five names posted gains.
Nvidia’s stock came under scrutiny as investors questioned whether the company could surpass elevated expectations. Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid noted that Nvidia’s shares have declined following each of the last four earnings reports, as positive surprises have become less pronounced compared with earlier periods. The selloff extended to other chip-related stocks, with Arm Holdings, Applied Materials, AMD, Intel, Micron and Sandisk falling between 2.5% and 7.4%.
Tesla shares were also pressured by a recall of nearly 3 million vehicles in China due to safety issues with retractable door handles. The recall, affecting both domestically produced and imported models, represents the largest such action by an automaker in the country to date.
Elsewhere, adhesives manufacturer H.B. Fuller declined 1.2% after its board rejected Ancora’s takeover bid for its Building Adhesives division as inadequate. Telehealth platform Hims & Hers dropped nearly 9% following a warning from Visa over excessive customer complaints related to its weight-loss subscription products.
U.S. government plans to pressure Iran’s financial networks had minimal impact on market sentiment. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the initiative as a broad economic offensive aimed at isolating the Iranian regime, including calls to global leaders to halt cooperation with Tehran. The goal is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for global oil supplies. Iran warned of severe consequences in response to any economic warfare.
