U.S. stock indexes are drifting in a generally quiet mixed day on Monday, but some big names are making big moves beneath the surface.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in morning trading, following its sixth winning month in the last seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. ET, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.7%.
Some well-known stars are leading the way again as the Wall Street frenzy around artificial intelligence technology continues to grow.
Nvidia rose another 3.4% to take its profit this year to a whopping 128.9% after unveiling new products and services over the weekend. Until now it has been fulfilling explosive profits to keep at bay criticism that investors have become too enthusiastic about the prospects of AI. Nvidia was by far the strongest force driving the S&P 500 higher.
The jump was even bigger in another corner of Wall Street that is accustomed to stomach-churning swings, both up and down.
GameStop soared 28.7% in a move reminiscent of its rocket trip in early 2021 that shook Wall Street and introduced the term "meme stock" into the language of our times. GameStop jumped after a Reddit account associated with a central character in the 2021 episode said it had amassed a stake of 5 million shares, along with options to buy more. The Sunday night post said the position was worth $181.4 million.
It caused a tidal wave online because it was the same Reddit account that showed similar screenshots of big GameStop holdings in 2021 that helped the struggling video game retailer's stock price skyrocket, far beyond what many expected. critics on Wall Street called it rational.
โMeme stocksโ have become the way to describe companies whose prices are moved more by the enthusiasm of investors with smaller pockets than by any fundamental change in their business prospects. Other meme stocks also rose on Monday, including a 12.7% rise for AMC Entertainment.
In a more traditional move for the market, Stericycle jumped 14.9% after Waste Management said it would buy the medical waste company for $5.8 billion in cash and assume $1.4 billion of its net debt. Waste Management fell 2.6%.
Autodesk rose 8.9% after releasing the results of a previously announced investigation into its accounting. The company had taken actions that helped it achieve its free cash flow target in a previous fiscal year, but found nothing that required a restatement or adjustment of its financial statements. He also offered some encouraging financial forecasts.
JetBlue Airways rose 4.9% after raising its revenue forecast in the current quarter, saying demand trends appear healthy overall. He also said jet fuel prices are going down and other airline stocks are also up. American Airlines added 3.2%
On the losing side of Wall Street, Hertz Global sank 5.2% after it said its chief operating officer was leaving and named a new chief financial officer.
In the bond market, Treasury yields fell following the latest report showing that the US economy is slowing.
U.S. manufacturing contracted in May for the 18th time in 19 months, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The hope among investors is that the U.S. economy hits the sweet spot where it slows enough to keep pressure on inflation, but not enough to cause a recession. That, in turn, could allow the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate.
The Federal Reserve has been keeping the federal funds rate at the highest level in two decades, intentionally slowing the economy and hurting investment prices, in hopes of fully controlling high inflation.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.41% from 4.50% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.82% from 4.88%.
Next week there will be several top-level economic reports that could cause sharper swings in yields.
On Tuesday, the US government will show how many job openings employers were advertising at the end of April. And on Friday it will give the latest monthly update on overall job growth and worker wages.
In overseas stock markets, India's Sensex soared 3.4% after the country's six weeks of trading. national election came to an end when most exit polls projected Prime Minister Narendra Modi extend your decade in power with a third consecutive term.
Stock indexes also rose across Europe and much of the rest of Asia, although Shanghai was an exception.
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AP Business writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
