U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Monday after a choppy trading day as investors took a pause ahead of economic data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony.
Market Snapshot
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97.55 points, or 0.25%, to 38,989.83, the S&P 500 lost 6.13 points, or 0.12%, to 5,130.95 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 67.43 points, or 0.41%, to 16,207.51.
Market Movers
Apple (AAPL) - Apple fell 2.5% after the European Commission fined the tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc’s rules on music streaming. Apple said it has appealed the decision.
Nvidia (NVDA) - Shares of Nvidia rose 3.6% after the chip giant closed Friday with a market cap above $2 trillion for the first time. The stock rose from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in 180 trading days, according to Dow Jones Market Data, faster than Apple and Microsoft, the only other companies to end a trading day with a market cap higher than $2 trillion.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) - Super Micro Computer, a maker of servers that help with artificial-intelligence applications, and Deckers Outdoor, the maker of Hoka sneakers and Ugg boots, will join the S&P 500 before the opening of trading on March 18. Shares of Super Micro surged 18.7%, while Deckers jumped 2.6%. The two companies will replace Whirlpool and Zions Bancorp in the index. Whirlpool fell 0.2% while Zions was up 1%.
TSMC (TSM) - TSMC rose to a record high in Taipei, according to Bloomberg, jumping 5.2% to NT$725. It has risen 22% this year. U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor, the world’s largest third-party chip manufacturer, were rising 3.3%.
Coinbase (COIN), MicroStrategy (MSTR) - Coinbase rose 11.4% and MicroStrategy jumped 23.6% as the crypto-related companies benefited from a rally in Bitcoin and other digital assets. At last check, Bitcoin was up 7.6% to $67,207, putting its record high of about $69,000 in sight.
Sea (SE) - Sea Ltd. gave up most of its earlier gains as investors digested a broadly positive earnings report that showed aggressive spending on marketing. Southeast Asia’s largest internet firm posted $126.7 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter through December. While that’s a decline of 74% from a year earlier, as a result of marketing spending — it’s still higher than the $88 million analysts predicted. Sales also topped estimates. The shares rose 5.6% on Monday.
Spirit Airlines (SAVE), JetBlue Airways (JBLU) - Spirit Airlines fell 10.8% while JetBlue Airways rose 4.3% after their merger agreement was terminated. A merger of the two would have created the fifth-largest U.S. airline.
Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) - Akero Therapeutics jumped 11.7% after the company released positive test results for efruxifermin, a liver disease treatment.
Macy’s (M) - Macy’s rose 13.6% to $20.45 after Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital said they raised their offer to buy the retailer by almost $1 billion. The private-equity firms raised their bid to $24 a share, or $6.6 billion. Macy’s in late January rejected an offer from Arkhouse and Brigade Capital of $21 a share, or $5.8 billion. Macy’s said it has received the new offer and its board would review the proposal.
Li Auto (LI) - American depositary receipts of Li Auto declined 13.6%. The Chinese electric-vehicle maker on Friday unveiled the Mega, the company’s first high-voltage battery-electric vehicle. The car was priced at 559,800 yuan (US$77,785), slightly higher than analysts expected. Li Auto on Friday reported deliveries in February of 20,251 vehicles, up 22% year over year.
DoorDash (DASH) - DoorDash rose 3.9% to $132.40 after shares of the food-delivery company were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital and the price target was increased to $175 from $130.
Lyft (LYFT) - Lyft also was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital. The stock rose 4.5% to $17.08. RBC Capital raised its price target on shares of the ride-hailing company to $23 from $17.
Market News
Trump Wins Colorado Ballot Disqualification Case at US Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a major victory on Monday, barring states from disqualifying candidates for federal office under a constitutional provision involving insurrection and reversing Colorado's exclusion of him from its ballot.
The justices unanimously overturned a Dec. 19 decision by Colorado's top court to kick the former president off the state's Tuesday Republican primary ballot after finding that the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office. The Colorado court had found that Trump took part in an insurrection for inciting and supporting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
The justices determined that only Congress can enforce the constitutional provision against federal officeholders and candidates. But four of the nine justices, including the court's three liberal members, faulted the rest of the court for announcing rules limiting how the provision may be enforced in the future.
Bitcoin Tops $67,000 As It Nears 2021 All-Time High
Bitcoin jumped to start the week, edging even closer to its all-time high after the rally took a breather over the weekend.
The flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 7.65% at $67,608.30, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it rose to as much as $67,977.77, its highest level since November 2021, when it reached its all-time high. Ether advanced 3.41%, trading near January 2022 highs at $3,588.83.
Both coins are coming off their best week in almost a year — bitcoin gained about 21% and ether 16% — but paused their run over the weekend as the market digested two days of steep outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) that were offset by inflows into other “newborn” bitcoin exchange-traded funds.