Prabhjote Gill
4 min read
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U.S. stocks traded mixed on Monday, with the Dow rising more than 250 points while the Nasdaq Composite fell amid pressure on semiconductor stocks.
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Salesforce shares climbed after Bank of America upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’ and raised its price target to $285 from $160.
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Micron and SanDisk declined amid concerns about growing competition from China’s CXMT.
U.S. equities traded mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising more than 200 points while the Nasdaq Composite slipped as Micron Technology (MU) and other chip stocks tumbled on concerns about competition from China’s CXMT.
Adding to market pressure, oil prices climbed amid renewed Russia-Ukraine tensions. Investors were also looking ahead to bank earnings, upcoming inflation data, and a Friday speech by Kevin Warsh this week.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edged 0.04% lower at the time of writing, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) gained 0.40%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) slipped as much as 0.60%. Retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits dropped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ over the past day.
CRM Gains Drive Dow Jones
The Dow received support from Salesforce (CRM), which rose after Bank of America (BofA) gave it a double upgrade to ‘Buy’ from ‘Underperform’ and raised its price target to $285 from $160.
The firm cited improving prospects for Salesforce’s artificial intelligence strategy and stated that large companies are unlikely to abandon established software platforms that house their business data and workflows.
The Nasdaq, on the other hand, faced pressure from semiconductor stocks. Concerns that CXMT could pose bigger competition in memory chips weighed on Micron (MU), SanDisk (SNDK) and other chip companies in the sector. SNDK stock tumbled 5.6% in midday trade, while MU stock fell by around 3%.
Wells Fargo’s double downgrade on Adobe (ADBE) also did not help. The firm downgraded the software maker to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ and lowered its price target to $225 from $270. It cited concerns about slowing organic growth and the challenge of meeting Adobe’s full-year targets.
S&P 500 Holds Steady
The S&P 500, which covers a broader cross-section of large U.S. companies, held relatively steady as gains in some stocks offset losses elsewhere. eBay (EBAY) was among the top gainers, alongside names like Meta Platforms (META) and Biogen (BIIB).
