US stocks fell on Monday amid weaker-than-expected growth in the US manufacturing sector. The latest data said output slowed down due to continued supply constraints.
At the same time, 10-year Treasury yields dropped by 1.15%, so investors worried over economic growth. This ultimately led to a 0.10% decline in the S&P 500.
Bleakley CIO Peter Boockvar said this clearly shows that investors are troubled over the continuous growth in inflation and sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, as both threaten economic recovery.
Earlier, the stock market rallied when many companies posted optimistic earnings and a surge in corporate deals. And incidentally, China has called for closer cooperation with US over IPOs.
So, even if the market is weak this August, bullish investors are not losing hope because the S&P 500 soared for six consecutive months, which is the longest streak since 2018.
"Perhaps, a pause is just what it needs before ending the year strong," said The Harrison on Monday.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari also said that a surge in COVID-19 cases could harm economic recovery and deter the population from looking for jobs.
But weaker-than-expected growth in manufacturing could boost expectations for a more robust recovery.
Other important events for this week are:
- reports from Alibaba, BP, Toyota, Uber, Roku, Moderna and KKR4;
- policy decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia (Tuesday);
- policy decision of the Bank of England (Thursday);
- policy decision of the Reserve Bank of India (Friday);
- data on the US labor market (Friday).