Dow drops nearly 200 points as yields jump and tech shares slide: Live updates

The Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW) fell to its lowest level since 2018 on Monday.

The fund was last down almost 2.5% in the session. At one point in the trading day, it traded at its cheapest price going back to December 2018.

Polestar, a Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer, led the ETF down with a drop of about 11%. SunPower and Navitas were the next biggest losers, falling more than 8% and 7%, respectively.

However, some names were able to buck the fund’s slide. Most notably, Piedmont Lithium jumped more than 20%, while SES AI rallied more than 15%.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

These are some of the names making headlines in midday trading.

• Tesla — Shares fell 2.8% after an internal memo said the electric vehicle maker is planning to lay off more than 10% of its global workforce. “As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” CEO Elon Musk said in the memo.
• Reddit — Shares dropped more than 5% after Wall Street firms initiated coverage of the stock following its public debut last month. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the social media platform at equal weight, saying shares are already trading at fair value. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs each gave Reddit a neutral rating. Others, including Deutsche Bank, were more bullish on the stock.
• Logitech — Shares dropped 6.4% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the computer peripherals stock to underweight, saying the market is “mis-pricing” the company’s “future growth algorithm.”

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

The iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH) dropped 0.7% Monday, falling to its lowest level since December 2011. Casino group Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment led to the downside, with both stocks down around 4.6% and 2.8%, respectively. AIA Group was also down nearly 3% and among the biggest decliners.

Year to date, the exchange-traded fund is down 13.3%, and is down 27.5% over the past 12 months.

— Hakyung Kim, Gina Francolla

Salesforce shares were poised to see their biggest loss in a session going back to late 2022 following acquisition reports.

The software stock dropped more than 5.5% during Monday morning trading, making it the worst performer in the Dow. The last time the stock saw a bigger slide in one day was early December 2022, when shares fell more than 7%.

Monday’s retreat came after The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported that Salesforce is in talks to acquire data management firm Informatica. Despite the pullback, shares are still up more than 5% in 2024.

Salesforce’s slide also weighed on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which was the worst performer of the three major indexes on Monday.

— Alex Harring

The dollar index on Monday hits its highest level since November as the yen weakened and as tensions escalated in the Middle East.

The dollar index hit a high of 106.013, or its best level going back to Nov. 3, 2023, when the index had reached 106.224. The dollar hit a high of 154.4 against the yen, the highest level since June 29, 1990, when the dollar traded as high as 154.58 against the yen.

The dollar also reached a high of 0.9151 against the Swiss franc, which was the highest level since Oct. 6, 2023, when the dollar went as high as 0.9175 against the franc.

— Sarah Min, Gina Francolla

Concerns for traders tied to the Middle East conflict may be coming down after Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, according to Evercore ISI.

“This remains a dangerous situation, but risks to oil and markets may be a bit less than feared Friday on the eve of the attack,” said Krishna Guha, the firm’s senior managing director, in a Sunday note. 

How Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will respond to the attack is a key outstanding question, Guha said. The Biden administration has made it clear it does not want Israel to retaliate, he noted. 

“Provided that Netanyahu looks like he is willing to follow U.S. advice, there may be some element of a relief rally in markets Monday,” Guha said. “However, our colleagues in the energy team do not expect a big retracement in the price of oil.”

— Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim

Tesla shares were down more than 3% after the electric vehicle maker said it would lay off more than 10% of its global workforce.

“There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle,” CEO Elon Musk said in a memo.

— Fred Imbert

Stocks kicked off Monday’s trading session in the green as Wall Street looked to rebound off last week’s sell-off.

The Dow traded more than 350 points higher, which equates to about 1%, shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

— Alex Harring

The three major indexes have ground to make up after last week’s drops.

The Dow fell more than 2%, marking its second down week in a row and biggest loss since March 2023. A sizable chunk of that sell-off came Friday, when the blue-chip index tumbled around 475 points.

The S&P 500 ended the week lower by about 1.5%, its worst performance since October 2023. Friday saw the biggest drop for the broad index since January.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished almost 0.5% in the red. That was its third straight losing week, a negative streak last seen in October 2023.

— Alex Harring

These are some of the stocks moving the most during premarket trading.

• Goldman Sachs — Goldman Sachs shares jumped 3.3% during premarket trading after the company beat Wall Street’s first-quarter earnings expectations.
• Snap One — Snap One shares surged 30% after the provider of smart living products said it was going to be acquired by Resideo Technologies, a home automation company, for $10.75 per share in cash.
• Salesforce — Shares slid nearly 3% during premarket trading, following reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the software company is in advanced talks to acquire Informatica, a data management firm.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Stock futures took a leg up after retail sales data came in hotter than anticipated for March.

U.S. Census Bureau data showed the measure increased 0.7% for the month. That is a higher rate than the Dow Jones consensus forecast for a 0.3% increase, underscoring the trend of continued consumption despite higher prices in the U.S.

— Alex Harring, Jeff Cox

Tesla retreated more than 1% during premarket trading on the back of media reports showing the electric vehicle maker will cut more than 10% of its workforce.

CNBC has not been able to independently verify a memo cited by other outlets and has reached out to the company for comment. Tesla shares have tumbled more than 30% in 2024.

— Alex Harring, Ruxandra Iordache

Goldman Sachs shares jumped 3.3% in premarket trading after the company surpassed first-quarter earnings expectations, fueled by its trading and investment banking businesses.

The financial titan posted earnings of $11.58 per share on revenue of $14.21 billion for the period, while Wall Street analysts surveyed by LSEG had called for earnings of $8.56 per share on revenue of $12.92 billion.

Dormant capital markets and the company’s push into retail banking, which it has pivoted away from, should lead to stronger results this year for the financial giant. Goldman’s new emphasis for growth has centered on its asset and wealth management division, which could see gains given the market rally earlier this year.

— Pia Singh, Hugh Son

Gold climbed on Monday as investors sought safe haven assets following Iran’s drone and missile strike on Israel over the weekend.

Spot gold prices climbed 0.61% to trade at $2,356.34 per ounce, rebounding after a retreat from all-time highs on Friday.

Gold futures for April rose 0.1% to trade at $2,358.5.

Oil stocks in Asia were mixed following Iran’s drone strike against Israel over the weekend, while oil futures were little changed.

Australian oil heavyweight Woodside Energy inched up 0.1%, while counterparts Santos and Beach Energy gained 0.38% and 1.02%, respectively.

In Japan, Japan Petroleum was one of the largest gainers on the Nikkei 225, up 3.08%, while Eneos Holdings rose 0.32%. Heavyweights Inpex and Cosmo Energy, however, fell 0.29% and 0.58%, respectively.

South Korean oil stocks were also mixed, with the largest oil stock by market cap on the Kospi SK Innovation down1.29%. Counterpart S-Oil, which is the second-largest South Korean stock, rose 2.04%.

— Lim Hui Jie

Japan’s core machinery orders beat expectations by a large margin in February, rising 7.7% month on month compared with the 0.8% rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.

However, on a year-on-year basis, core machinery orders were down 1.8%, a smaller drop than the 6% decline forecast in the Reuters poll.

Core machinery orders are a highly volatile data series, regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in Japan.

— Lim Hui Jie, Reuters

U.S. crude oil futures were slightly lower Sunday as traders breathed a sigh of relief after Israel fended off a large-scale air assault by Iran and the U.S. emphasized it wants to avoid a wider war in the Middle East.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May lost 34 cents to $85.32 a barrel as trading began Sunday evening. June Brent futures eased slightly to $90.18 a barrel. U.S. crude closed at $85.66 a barrel Friday, while the global benchmark settled at $90.45. WTI futures began the year around $71 a barrel.

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles against military targets in Israel on Saturday in an attack that President Joe Biden described as “unprecedented.” Though significant in scale, the Iranian attack caused little actual damage in Israel.

— Spencer Kimball

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sold off heavily Saturday night after Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel.

As of Sunday evening, Bitcoin was trading near $65,000. It managed to rebound partially from its losses on Saturday, when it fell below $62,000 from around $70,000. This marked the steepest sell off for bitcoin in over a year.

Other coins like ether also saw heavy selling, down by up to 10% in some cases.

— Hakyung Kim, Matt Clinch