How'd the stock market do today? The answer's a little complicated, and heavily depends on which major blue-chip index you hitch your wagon to.
The S&P 500 closed with a 0.8% loss to 3,876, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped for a fifth consecutive day, by 2.5% to 13,533 … but the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to claw out a 0.1% gain, to 31,521.
It's a continuation of a trend that has emerged over the past couple of weeks amid a sharp rise in interest rates; higher rates on bonds can weigh on the appeal of stocks broadly, but specifically on the growthy but extremely expensive tech sector, where costlier borrowing will trim margins. Apple (AAPL) declined 3.0%. Tesla (TSLA) plunged 8.6%.
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On the flip side, financial stocks continued to jump, as higher rates help banks and insurers pad their bottom line. Monday's best performances came from the energy sector, however, as Texas's recent weather woes are expected to hinder oil and gas supplies for weeks. U.S. crude oil futures jumped 3.8% to $61.49 per barrel, lifting stocks such as Exxon Mobil (XOM, +3.7%) and Chevron (CVX, +2.7%).
Other action in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 finished 0.7% lower, to 2,251.
- Gold futures rallied 1.7% to finish the day at $1,808.40 per ounce.
- Bitcoin prices swung quite a bit. After finishing at $55,371 on Friday afternoon, they briefly eclipsed $58,000 this weekend before peeling back. Prices then dipped to as low as $50,623 in Monday trading before finishing at $54,009. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.)
More New Stocks Are on the Way
While investors may have lost some appetite for expensive tech stocks, they're clearly still hungry for the novel and new. 2021 has seen voracious demand for initial public offerings (IPOs), including Bumble (BMBL), Affirm (AFRM) and Petco (WOOF) – and more are on the way.
In the past few days, several high-profile companies have thrown their hats into the ring by filing S-1s with the SEC, including Coupang (South Korea's second-largest online retailer) and crafts retailer Jo-Ann Stores.
If you're curious about these and other potential offerings on the 2021 horizon, check out our frequently updated list of the year's hottest upcoming IPOs. Several of the companies on our original watch list have already gone public; currently, we're looking at a dozen companies that should pull off IPOs by year's end. We break down each company: what they do, when they're expected to offer up shares, and how much each company will be valued at.
Disclaimer
Kyle Woodley was long Bitcoin as of this writing.
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