US stocks sink in selloff of almost everything, oil rises

In a broad stock market selloff, the S&P 500 finished Monday down 1%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.2%, while the Russell 2000 dropped 0.9%.

Last Friday’s strong job report eased worries about a weakening labor market and reduced expectations for a 50-basis point rate cut in November. Traders are now pricing in a 15.5% chance of no rate cuts in the next Federal Reserve meeting, up from 2.6% on October 4. As a result, bond yields continued to climb, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yields exceeding 4%.

Oil futures surged on intensified tensions in the Middle East. The November WTI crude rose 3.7% at settlement, while the global benchmark, Brent crude for December delivery, also climbed to settle above $80 per barrel. Both benchmarks hit their highest finish since late August.

Energy was the only S&P 500 sector that rose on Monday, up 0.4%. Utilities had the biggest retreat as the sector ETF plunged 2.3%. Vistra, the best-performing S&P stock so far this year, dropped 5.2% and was among the biggest laggards of the day.

Overall, 393 of the stocks in the S&P 500 sunk. 

All Magnificent Seven stocks declined except for Nvidia. Tesla slid 3.7% ahead of its long-awaited robotaxi event on Thursday. Amazon sank 3%, one day before its Prime Day sale, after an analyst at Wells Fargo downgraded their rating for the e-commerce giant. Google fell 2.4%, following a judge’s ruling that the company must open up its Google Play store to third-party rivals.