Utility stocks fell Monday, dragging down the S&P 500, as investors dumped dividend-paying stocks for lower-risk, higher-yielding Treasurys.
Utilities in the S&P 500 fell 4.7 percent, their biggest one-day drop since the early days of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020. AES Corp. (AES), PG& E (PCG) and Dominion Energy (D) were among 17 utilities in the index that fell more than 4 percent. NextEra Energy (NEE) fell 9%.
Despite the sell-off in utilities, the broader S&P 500 closed up less than 0.1 per cent on Monday. The Dow, meanwhile, fell about 74 points, or 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7%.
The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 1.6 percent, turning negative for the year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note continued its steep climb Monday, trading above 4.7% for the first time since October 2007. The benchmark yield closed at 4.682 per cent, up from 4.572 per cent on Friday. That yield beats the 3.94% dividend yield of utilities in the S&P 500, according to FactSet.
Technology and telecommunications stocks were the only two S&P 500 sectors to close higher on Monday. Big tech companies such as chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META) have accounted for the vast majority of the broader index's 12% year-to-date gain. But lately, trading in these tech stocks has run out of steam and failed to offset declines in other sectors.
Property and energy stocks also weakened on Monday. Oil and gas producers Marathon (MRO), Occidental (OXY) and Devon (DVN) each fell about 4%.
Benchmark US crude futures fell 2.2 per cent to close at $88.82 a barrel.
Other big decliners on Monday included two stocks that were spun off from Kellogg. Kellanova (K) and WK Kellogg Co. (KLG) both fell on their first day of trading, falling 6% and 9%, respectively.