Wall St closes lower as investors position for key data

Wall Street closed ‍lower overnight as investors braced for a slew of economic data later this week while assessing reports on Federal Reserve candidates and commentary from ​policymakers for clues on the interest rate outlook.

The non-farm payroll figures for October and November are due later this week, along with reports on retail ⁠sales, business activity and inflation. October’s jobs data was delayed by the government shutdown earlier this quarter.

“Markets today are struggling with where to find the leadership, in terms of not wanting all the eggs in the AI basket and not having a lot of data yet,” said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO Family Office.

“People will hold their breath a little bit before the jobs numbers this week and whether or ‌not those are supportive ​of more rate cuts.”

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had logged their steepest daily declines in more than ‍three weeks on Friday amid concerns about inflation and debt-fuelled AI investments. 

Traders also assessed a report that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett’s candidacy for the Fed chair role received some pushback from people close to US President Donald Trump.

Speculation has been rife over a possible frontrunner as Jerome Powell’s term ends in May. Expectations for a dovish Fed chair have fuelled bets for interest rate cuts next year.

Also on Monday, New York ​Fed president John Williams said the central bank’s interest rate cut last week ‌leaves it in a good position, while Fed Governor Stephen Miran argued that current inflation does not reflect the true supply-demand dynamics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.49 ​points, or 0.09 per cent, to 48,416.56, the S&P 500 lost 10.90 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 6,816.51 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 137.76 points, or ‍0.59 per cent, to 23,057.41.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 major industry sectors rose, led by healthcare stocks, which popped 1.3 per cent. 

Information technology stocks slipped one per cent, dragged down by ServiceNow, which fell 11.5 per cent following a report that the cybersecurity company is in advanced talks to ​buy ​startup Armis.

In other company moves, Tesla rose 3.5 per cent after CEO ​Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker was testing its robotaxis without safety ​monitors in the front passenger seat. 

IRobot plunged 72.7 per cent after the Roomba vacuum-cleaner maker filed for bankruptcy protection.

Declining issues equalled advancers at a one-to-one ratio on the NYSE. There were 283 new highs and 93 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,715 stocks rose and 3,021 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.76-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and six new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 133 new highs and 198 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 17.13 billion shares, compared with the 17.10 billion average for the full session over the last ‍20 trading days.