New York – U.S. stocks are kicking off December by drifting around their record heights on Monday.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in midday trading after closing its best month of the year at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103 points, or 0.2%, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% higher.
Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 24.2% to help lead the market.
Following accusations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor, the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the board. It also said it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance.
Intel rose 5.2% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street’s frenzy around AI.
Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure. Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan.
Utility PG&E had the biggest drop in the S&P 500, 7%, after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash.
Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday. Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged, fell 2.2%. Walmart, which gave a more optimistic forecast, was virtually unchanged.
Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, rose 1.7%.
The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar.
The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close.
The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget. The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05.
In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.18%, where it was late Friday.
A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected.
This upcoming week will feature several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could all help steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy.
Economists expect Friday’s headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October’s lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes.
“We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.
In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month.
Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office.
Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai, but South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1%.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX returned 1.4%.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
