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Stock Market News for Aug 10, 2021

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U.S. stock markets closed mostly lower on Monday as energy stocks moved lower on mounting concerns related to the demand outlook for crude amid rising COVID-19 cases. Market participants also remained watchful ahead of the passing of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill with the Senate also looking to focus on the larger $3.5 trillion package. The Dow and S&P 500 closed the day in red while the Nasdaq Composite ended the day in green.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.3% or 106.66 points, closing at 35,101.85, reversing its gains from the previous two sessions. Notably, 20 components of the 30-stock index ended in red while 10 finished the day in green.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed the day at 14,860.18, up 0.2%, terminating its losses from Friday, on the back of strong performance by large-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, closing the day at 4,432.35, snapping its two-day winning streak. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) dipped 1.4% and 0.5%, respectively. Eight out of eleven sectors of the benchmark index closed in the negative zone while three closed in the green.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 3.5% to 16.72. A total of 8.55 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 9.64 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.63-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

Energy Stocks Moved Lower on Monday

The Dow and the S&P 500 moved lower in Monday’s session, falling from the record highs reached last Friday as rising COVID-19 cases raised concerns with regard to the demand outlook for crude.

The West Texas Intermediate crude futures moved lower in Monday’s session and dropped more than 4% at one point in the session to trade at a level that was not seen since May, at $65.15 per barrel, but ultimately recovered some losses to settle at $66.48 per barrel, declining 2.6%.

Shares of energy companies like Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG - Free Report) , ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) , Chevron Corp. (CVX - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM - Free Report) , fell 3.5%, 1.9%, 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively. Both ConocoPhillips and Chevron have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Markets Await Passage of Infrastructure Bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday that the U.S. Senate is set to begin voting on the passage of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday after the week-long debate on the bill concludes on Tuesday morning. Following that, the Senate will also look to focus on the bigger $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” bill.

The $3.5 trillion bill includes $726 billion for providing universal pre-school for 3-year and 4-year olds, $198 billion for clean energy development, $332 billion to be provided to the Banking Committee for investment in public housing, housing affordability, and so on. $135 billion is also set to be provided to the Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry, and it is set to include instructions for addressing forest fires, carbon emission reduction and ways to address drought related concerns.

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