Market Snapshot: Dow and S&P 500 trade modestly lower Monday as investors eye climbing COVID cases

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average
  DJIA,
  -0.21%
  traded 0.2% lower to 35,147, off 65 points.

• The S&P 500 index
  SPX,
  -0.05%
  fell 4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,431.

• The Nasdaq Composite Index
  COMP,
  +0.24%
  was trading up 0.2% at 14,857, or 21 points higher.

On Friday, the Dow rose 144.26 points, or 0.4%, to a record 35,208.51. The S&P 500 added 7.42 points, or 0.2%, to a record 4,436.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 59.36 points, or 0.4%, to 14,835.76.

For the week, the Dow had gained 0.8%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.1%.

Read: The strong jobs report is just strong enough, says a cautiously optimistic U.S. stock market

What’s driving the markets?

Stock were trading between modest gains and losses on Monday, as investors struggled to find fresh reasons to push major averages further into record territory.

Enthusiasm around the strong U.S. economic rebound from the pandemic was juxtaposed Monday with a surge in new COVID-19 cases in the U.S., which topped 100,000 daily for the first time in about six months, despite widespread availability of vaccines.

The latest crisis has stressed some hospitals, including in Austin, Texas, to the brink, throwing a wrench in plans by many companies looking to return more staff to the office this fall and raising anxieties about young children, not yet eligible for vaccines, returning to classrooms.

“The continuing spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant remains in sharp focus, with new U.S. cases hitting a six-month high last week and hospitalizations increasing by roughly 40% from the prior week,” Saira Malik, chief investment officer for Nuveen’s $450 billion global equity division, in emailed commentary.

“We maintain our view that equity markets are likely to remain highly susceptible to pullbacks and may react negatively to economic data that misses consensus expectations.”

A better than-expected July employment report, with 943,000 new jobs created and the unemployment rate falling to 5.4% from 5.9%, drove records for the Dow and the S&P 500 on Friday. That briefly helped to offset concerns around surging COVID-19 cases, driven by the delta variant, and a potentially slower pace of economic growth.

Federal Reserve officials have been deeply focused on seeing further progress in the labor market as part of broader plans to eventually pull back stimulus for the economy. More data on inflation, another part of the central bank’s mandate, will be due Wednesday with July CPI.

Stocks indexes were mostly lower after data Monday morning showed U.S. job openings rose to a record 10.1 million in June.

Goldman Sachs’ downgrade of its China growth forecasts was also in focus Monday, due to the country’s efforts to contain a small but growing number of COVID-19 cases in several regions. The bank cut its third-quarter growth outlook to 2.3% from 5.8%, but lifted its fourth-quarter outlook to 8.5% from 5.8% previously. That leaves its full-year 2021 projection at 8.3% from 8.6% previously.

Beijing has reportedly punished 30 officials across the country for lax attitudes and response in containing the virus, according to the state-backed Global Times. Meanwhile, fresh data showed producer prices climbing 9.0% from a year earlier, faster than an 8.8% increase in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics Monday.

Concerns over China growth didn’t help oil prices, which extended sharp losses from Friday. Crude for September delivery
CLU21,
-2.96%
fell $1.60, or 2.3%, to $66.70 a barrel. Brent oil
BRN00,
-2.59%
fell $2.91 or 4.1%, to $67.78 a barrel.

In Washington, Senate Democrats on Monday released the text of a budget resolution that would allow them to pass their $3.5 trillion package focused on “human infrastructure,” climate change and other Democratic priorities. The Democratic-run Senate is aiming to take a two-step approach to big spending, with the $3.5 trillion package advancing by a simple majority vote through a process known as budget reconciliation after the chamber passes a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.

Which companies are in focus?

• Tesla Inc. 
  TSLA,
  +2.28%
  shares rose 2% Monday after Jefferies analysts upgraded the stock rating, forecasting an 22% increase over the next 12 months. The electric vehicle maker also is requiring masks indoors starting Monday regardless of vaccination status.

• Workhorse Group Inc.
  WKHS,
  +2.92%
  shares were up 1.9% despite booking a $52 million loss as it sold off a large chunk of its investment in embattled electric pickup-truck maker Lordstown Motors Corp., according to a company filing Monday.

• DraftKings Inc. DKNG said Monday it has entered an agreement to acquire Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. GNOG in an all-stock deal valued at about $1.56 billion. 

• Shares of Sanderson Farms Inc.
  SAFM,
  +7.47%
  rose 7.3% after the chicken producer confirmed an agreement to be bought by a Cargill and Continental Grain Co. joint venture in a deal valued at $4.53 billion.

• Air Products & Chemicals Inc. APD shares fell 5.5% after it reported Monday fiscal third-quarter profit that came up short of expectations while revenue beat, and lowered the midpoint of its full-year outlook.

• Impossible Foods Inc. will publicly announce a new chief financial officer and lead human-resources executive Monday as chatter about a possible IPO for the plant-based meat maker continues to sizzle.

• Shares of Bluebird Bio Inc. BLUE skid 23.6% Monday after the company announced several setbacks to its business as part of its second-quarter earnings announcement.

• Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
  NCLH,
  -1.33%
  declined 2.3%, roughly in line with the stocks of the cruise operator’s peers, after a federal judge sided with Norwegian in its fight Florida’s rule that businesses can’t require proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

• Tyson Foods Inc. TSN stock rose 8.3% in Monday trading after the meat manufacturer reported fiscal third quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. 

• Hertz Global Holdings Inc. HTZZ shares gained 2.8% after it reported Monday second-quarter profit and sales that more than doubled from a year ago, citing strong leisure travel demand and tighter fleet inventory, in the auto rental company’s first quarterly report since emerging from bankruptcy on June 30.

• Shares of Moderna Inc. MRNA, +14.30% were up 14.5% in record territory on Monday after the company said its COVID-19 vaccine has been granted a provisional authorization in Australia to adults who are at least 18 years old. 

How are other assets faring?

• The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y rose 2 basis points to around 1.31%. Yields and debt prices move in opposite directions.

• The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down by about 0.1%.

• Oil futures CL00 for the U.S. benchmark traded 2.3% lower at $66.72 a barrel, while gold was down 2% and extending a sharp drop from late last week, with December futures GCZ21 down $35.20 to $1,727.80 an ounce, and tumbling as low as $1,672.80 in Asian trading.

• In European equities, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP gained 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX was 0.1% higher.

• In Asia, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP fell 1.1% and the Hang Seng Index HSI rose 0.4%, while markets in Japan were closed.

Barbara Kollmeyer contributed reporting