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Stock Market News for Sep 28, 2021

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The rise in 10-year Treasury yield and crude price led the Dow to close in the green on Monday. However, this weighed on rate-sensitive areas, especially technology, pushing the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq into the negative territory.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 71.37 points, or 0.2%, to close at 34,869.37. The index booked its fourth straight day gain and also hit an intraday peak at 35,061.12 on Monday. The blue-chip index was lifted by significant gains in financial and energy stocks. Dow Inc. (DOW - Free Report) was the highest gainer climbing 5.1% for the session, followed by more than 2% gain in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM - Free Report) , Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) . All the aforementioned stocks carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The S&P 500 slid 12.37 points, or 0.3%, to close at 4,443.11 on Monday. Six of the 11 major sectors of the broader index closed in the red. The real estate sector was the biggest loser dropping 1.7% for the session, followed by more than 1% decline across the health, utilities and technology sectors. Meanwhile, the energy sector was the highest gainer, closing 3.4% higher on Monday, followed by 1.3% gain in financials.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF jumped 3.6%, yesterday as oil prices continued to rise. Prices for the U.S. and global benchmark crude oil settled at the highest in almost three years, while natural-gas futures jump 11%, pushed by the lingering impact of Hurricane Ida on supply.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 14,969.97, after declining 77.73 points, or 0.5%, and also hit an intraday low of 14,864.96. The rise in Treasury yield brought concerns for the rate-sensitive technology stocks and weighed on the index. Share of MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI - Free Report) and Atlassian Corporation Plc (TEAM - Free Report) closed at least 5.3% lower and were the highest losers of the day.

On Monday, the fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 5.7%, to close at 18.76. The S&P 500 posted 28 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 78 new lows. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.41-to-1 ratio, while a 1.60-to-1 ratio favored advancers on Nasdaq.

A total of 10.32 billion shares were traded yesterday, slightly higher than the last 20-session average of 10.19 billion. Additionally, the small-capitalization Russell 2000 index advanced 1.5% yesterday.

10-year Treasury Rate Briefly Tops 1.5%

On Monday, Treasury yields rose extensively, with the 30-year long bond traded at 1.994% and the benchmark 10-year note briefly topping 1.5% to touch the highest level since June. The 10-year note posted its largest five-day gain in yield since Mar 18, and the 30-year yield had its largest three-day gain since Feb 16. The rise in yield was catalyzed by the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement last week that indicated it would taper off monthly asset purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, which was done to facilitate the economy during the pandemic, soon. Along with that Fed also hinted at a sooner-than-expected interest rate increase for 2022.

The rise in yield boosted financial and banking stocks, which benefit from higher longer-end rates and the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF rose 1.4%. However, tech and related stocks that benefit from a low rates environment faced a headwind and bigwigs like Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) closed at least 1% lower, while Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) slid 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

Investors also wait for Washington’s update on raising the debt ceiling, negotiations over funding the government and vote on Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, this week.

Durable Goods Surged in August

The U.S. Census Bureau reported yesterday, that the country’s durable goods order jumped 1.8% in August, surpassing the consensus estimate of 0.7%. July’s figure was also revised to a 0.5% rise from the preliminary report of 0.1% decline, thus, a sixth month in a row. The report suggests that excluding transportation new orders increased 0.2%. The automobile space still remains blustered due to the global shortage of chips and new orders dropped 3.1% last month.

The Boeing Company (BA - Free Report) was the highest contributor to this gain as rise in travel, especially flying increased orders for this aerospace behemoth. Last month, Boeing witnessed a big flush of orders for its 737 Max jets and other planes, orders for new commercial airplanes soared 78%. Shares of Boeing closed 1.3% higher for the day.

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