US stocks mostly fall on inflation worries
Wall Street stocks mostly retreated on Monday following US manufacturing data that pointed to both rising activity and pricing pressure. The Institute for Supply Management's March survey is the first to show manufacturing growth since September 2022. But markets fixated on a 3.3 percent rise in ISM's prices index as compared with February. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index still mustered a modest gain, winning 0.1 percent to 16,396. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6 percent to 39,566, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.2 percent to 5,243. Markets have been scrutinizing inflation data to gauge the likelihood of a shift in monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has said it expects three interest rate cuts this year, but that plan could slide if inflation remains elevated. US Treasury yields jumped after the ISM data. Among individual companies, 3M jumped 6.1 percent after completing the spinoff of its health care business. The new health entity, Solventum, fell 0.9 percent in its debut. FedEx dropped 3.3 percent after disclosing that its contract with the US Postal Service (USPS) will expire on September 29 after the parties were unable to come to an agreement to renew. FedEx competitor UPS, which announced a "significant partnership expansion" with USPS, fell 0.7 percent. Trump Media & Technology Group, the recently-listed social media company associated with the former president and current White House hopeful, sank 21.5 percent as it disclosed a net loss of $58.2 million in 2023. (AFP)