Stocks in the U.S. returned to growth after a series of declines. Gold slowed down
The market was supported by good data on manufacturing activity
The S&P 500 started February higher amid strong manufacturing activity data / Photo: jb moordiana/Shutterstock.com
Wall Street started February with growth: the S&P 500 index interrupted a three-day decline amid slowing sell-offs in precious metals and bitcoin. The market was supported by strong data on manufacturing activity in the US, signaling a possible recovery in the sector.
Details
- The broad market index S&P 500 interrupted a three-day decline and added about 0.5%. Investors preferred not to dwell on the collapse in prices of precious metals and bitcoin, CNBC writes.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip index was up 0.9% on Monday.
- The Nasdaq Composite Technology Sector Index was up 0.6 percent on Feb. 2.
- The Russell 2000 index of small companies was up 1.2 percent.
- Gold cheapened by 4%, partially recouping losses incurred earlier in the day.
- Silver was down 8%.
- Bitcoin was up 2.6 percent in value after falling as low as $74,592, CoinGecko shows.
- The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose four basis points to 4.27%, Bloomberg writes.
- The dollar strengthened 0.4%.
- Oil was down 4.5 percent amid a weakening geopolitical risk premium following U.S. President Donald Trump's statements that Washington is negotiating with Iran, Bloomberg notes.
What influenced the market
Investor sentiment was supported by data that U.S. industrial activity grew in January at the fastest pace since 2022 - and after nearly a year of decline, Bloomberg notes. The steady growth may give the market confidence that the manufacturing sector is beginning to recover from the prolonged stagnation of the past three years, the agency reports.
"It looks like the manufacturing sector is starting to emerge from the cold winter. We have previously seen signs of recovery followed by another downturn, but with new orders picking up, this recovery may be real," said Brian Jacobsen of Annex Wealth Management(quoted by Bloomberg).
Movements in commodity prices now are more likely to reflect a shakeout of weak or over-leveraged players than a change in the fundamental picture, said Wells Fargo's Darrell Cronk. "This is a market worth watching in terms of vulnerabilities and extremes," he said.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
