By Sinéad Carew and Iain Withers
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – MSCI’s global equities gauge was lower on Monday as weakness in technology stocks offset support from a dip in U.S. Treasury yields and falling oil prices.
Investors were waiting for details of threatened U.S. sanctions on Iran with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent due to hold a press conference later on Monday to outline the details.
Treasury yields fell following a report that the Treasury Department may tap its cash account to finance increased debt buybacks. In currencies, the Canadian dollar dipped due to a looming U.S. trade war.
While most of the S&P 500’s industry sectors were gaining ground, heavyweight technology led losses in a handful of declining sectors.
“Today it’s a mixed bag. Technology is being dragged down by the overnight news from two key companies, but the rest of the market is reacting positively to lower oil prices and lower bond yields,” said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera, El Segundo, CA.
In particular Goldman pointed to Alibaba’s launch of a $10.2 billion share sale at a steep discount to fund its AI ambitions. And South Korean shares fell after Samsung Electronics announced a $79 billion shareholder-return plan, which was a record but still smaller than the windfall its investors had expected.
Technology investors were already on edge ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly financial report on Wednesday with worries about how hard it will be for the leading AI chipmaker to meet sky-high expectations.
On Monday at 11:14 a.m. ET (1514 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89.04 points, or 0.17%, to 53,361.60, the S&P 500 fell 28.66 points, or 0.37%, to 7,645.71 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 186.77 points, or 0.71%, to 25,993.69.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 5.02 points, or 0.44%, to 1,144.79 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.01%. Earlier South Korea’s KOSPI index finished down more than 3%.
FROM JACKSON HOLE TO TRADE WARS
Also coming up this week is Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first speech at an annual conference in Jackson Hole. The appearance has taken on added weight as traders and analysts look for guidance about the recent jump in bond yields and for reassurance of his independence from the Trump administration.
While traders are pricing in a roughly 60% probability that the Fed will hold rates steady at its September meeting, the expectation is for at least one hike by December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
