Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
It’s a quiet start to the week on Wall Street, with major stock indices hovering around the flatline as of midday in New York. Investors are showing a continued preference for artificial intelligence winners while also actively seeking opportunities in small caps to catch up.
The Russell 2000 ETF, as monitored by the iShares Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM), surged by 0.5%, outpacing the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones indices. The benchmark for U.S. small-cap stocks has now soared to its highest level since April 2022, demonstrating a remarkable near-30% surge since late October 2023.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) continued its remarkable ascent, climbing 4.7% on Monday and extending its year-to-date gains to an impressive 74%. Yet signs of strain emerged within the so-called Magnificent Seven group as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell by 2.9%, 3.3% and 6.9%, respectively.
The U.S. dollar was unchanged, while Treasury yields moved up ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell‘s two-day semiannual testimony to Congress, set to begin Wednesday.
In commodities, gold surged by 1.7%, surpassing $2,100 per ounce and now trading within just 1.4 percentage points of its all-time highs. Ooil experienced a 1% decline, with no significant developments emerging from OPEC+’s decision to maintain an extension of the 2.2-million-barrel-per-day cuts through the second quarter.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) surged past $67,000, marking a 6.5% increase and edging closer to the record high of $69,000 reached in November 2021.
Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-Day Chg % |
| Russell 2000 | 2,085.93 | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 5,137.73 | 0.0% |
| Dow Jones | 39,052.95 | -0.1 % |
| Nasdaq 100 | 18,271.79 | -0.2% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was flat at $512.84, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) marginally eased 0.1% to $390.92 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 0.2% to $444.85, according to Benzinga Pro data.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU), was the outperformer, up by 1%, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) lagged behind, down 1.2%.
Monday’s Stock Movers
- Macy’s Inc. (NYSE:M) rose 15% after Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management raised the per-share offer to acquire Macy’s to $24 in cash, up from the previous $21 offer submitted earlier.
- Apple Inc. experienced a 3% decline, reaching its lowest levels since early November 2023, following the European Union’s issuance of a nearly $2-billion fine to the Cupertino-based company, as a result of allegations of Apple abusing its market position in the distribution of music streaming apps.
- Tesla Inc. fell 7% after weaker-than-expected EV sales in China.
- JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ:JBLU) ended its $3.8-billion bid to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE:SAVE) due to regulatory hurdles. The Justice Department blocked the deal in January over antitrust concerns. JetBlue will pay a $69-million termination fee to Spirit, settling all matters. JetBlue’s shares rose by 1.7%, while Spirit’s fell nearly 15%.
- New York Community Bancorp. (NYSE:NYCB) plummeted over 15% following a decline of over 25% on Friday. This drop comes amidst executive replacements and the revelation of identified material weaknesses in the bank’s loan review process.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) rose 10.4% amid strong bullish momentum following last week’s earnings report.
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