US: Wall Street indices close lower as tech continues to hurt

[NEW YORK] US stock indices closed lower in the first trading session of the week on Monday, with tech stocks hit hardest by investors' fears of rising inflation.

Indices endured whipsaw trading last week, falling for the first three sessions before finishing on Friday strongly higher, though they were down overall for the week.

That enthusiasm was not apparent on Monday, and the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.2 per cent lower 34,327.79.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.4 per cent to 13,379.05, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent to 4,163.29.

"The market was slow and mixed," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities, pointing to gains in the energy, metals and banking sectors.

However, tech companies saw their shares fall, with Netflix and Apple both losing 0.9 per cent, dragging markets down with them.

Concerns about inflation were the culprit, Mr Cardillo said, after the government last week reported prices rose in April at their highest year-on-year rate since 2008.

This raised fears that the Federal Reserve could raise low interest rates that have benefited tech companies sooner than expected.

"The Fed continues to talk down inflation, saying it's a sign of economic strength and activity, but the question is how much inflation is good for the economy," he said.

Microsoft closed 1.2 per cent lower following a report that founder Bill Gates left the company's board in 2020 during an investigation of the billionaire founder's relationship with a female employee.

AT&T closed down 2.7 per cent after agreeing to spin off its media companies, including HBO and CNN, to Discovery Network.

Discovery finished 3.1 per cent higher.

AFP