Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Shrug Off China Weakness, Afghan Upheaval
Stocks slumped early Monday on slower-than-expected China growth and Middle East turmoil, but the Dow and S&P 500 recovered to set new highs.


Global headlines ranging from dour to disastrous appeared poised to send stocks to sizable losses early Monday, but the major indexes overcame the gloomy news and even managed to scratch out a couple new highs.
Earlier Monday, China announced weaker-than-expected economic growth than expected for July, with retail sales up 8.5% year-over-year (below estimates of 11.5%) and industrial production improving by 6.4% (7.8% est.).
"Slowdown concerns in the region have been persistent for some time now and those concerns are coming to bear in the data," says Michael Reinking, senior market strategist at the New York Stock Exchange. "The recent mitigation measures which include major port closures are raising additional supply chain concerns."

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Meanwhile, the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan amid the U.S. military's pullout also had investors on edge. Energy stocks such as Exxon Mobil (XOM, -1.5%) and Chevron (CVX, -1.0%) were Monday's worst-hit sector, as U.S. crude oil futures declined 1.0% to $67.77 per barrel.
However, David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, says "the immediacy of this particular development in Afghanistan is not particularly relevant to oil markets, but that could change if there exists a multi-month expansion of jihadist influence in the broader Middle East region out of this."
But while stocks broadly swooned to start the day, they regained most if not all of that lost ground by the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, off by more than 280 points (0.8%) at Monday's lows, finished up 110 points (0.3%) to a record 35,625. The S&P 500 also rebounded, closing up 0.3% to an all-time high 4,479.
And while the Nasdaq Composite finished off 0.2% to 14,793, that was far better than the 1.4% decline it was posting at the day's nadir.
"I would have expected much more downside given a difficult weekend of geopolitical headlines in the Middle East and since the good news of earnings season is now behind us," Bahnsen adds.
A quick reminder: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) files its quarterly Form 13F today. Visit Kiplinger.com/investing later this evening to learn about the legendary investor's latest buys and sells.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The Russell 2000 declined 0.9% to 2,203.
- Tesla (TSLA) fell 4.3% today after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated a formal investigation into the electric vehicle (EV) maker's self-driving Autopilot system. This follows several crashes and one fatality dating back to 2018. The Tesla models that were involved in the accidents "were all confirmed to have been engaged in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control during the approach to the crashes," according to the documents filed by the NHTSA.
- Rocket Companies (RKT) slumped 5.0% after the mortgage lender released its second-quarter earnings report. For the three-month period, the company reported lower-than-anticipated adjusted earnings per share of 46 cents and revenues of $2.8 billion.
- Gold futures rose 0.7% to settle at $1,789.80 an ounce.
- The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) gained 3.8% to 16.03.
- Bitcoin soared into the $48,000s over the weekend, but pulled back on Monday to $46,000.35, a 1.0% decline from Friday afternoon's levels. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.)
Pensions Say "No" to These Stocks
Over the past few years, we've explored the rise of "responsible" investing.
Whatever its form – socially responsible investing (SRI), environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) or impact investing – investors are increasingly concerned with more than just a company's bottom line. That has given rise to a wide swath of ESG-focused ETFs and other funds that retail investors can use to grow their wealth while also expressing their values.
This type of investing has become more popular at an institutional level, too, with even pensions including some stocks based on various ESG metrics … and excluding others.
While making a pension plan's "exclusion list" is hardly a kiss of death on its own, it can be nonetheless educational to note which companies don't make the cut – because if an increasingly values-focused Wall Street starts to follow suit, demand for these stocks could dry up, putting downward pressure on shares. We recently looked at nine such stocks, but keep close watch down the road: If these companies address the issues that got them shunned in the first place, they get off these exclusion lists.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of Young and The Invested, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of parents and children. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Jumps 520 Points After Salesforce Earnings
The enterprise network software firm reported impressive Q3 results, sending the blue chip stock soaring.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Streaming May Become Less Overwhelming (and Less Expensive) Next Year
Streaming services: We’re about to enter the era of bundles, saving money in the process, study says.
By Jamie Feldman Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Jumps 520 Points After Salesforce Earnings
The enterprise network software firm reported impressive Q3 results, sending the blue chip stock soaring.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Give Back GDP Gains After Beige Book
The latest GDP report showed the U.S. economy grew at a rapid-fire rate in the third quarter, but the Fed's Beige Book sparked concerns.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle for Direction After Mixed Fed Messages
E-commerce platform PDD Holdings jumped after earnings, while rival Shein reportedly filed confidential IPO paperwork.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Lower on Cyber Monday
The main indexes were choppy to start the week, though several e-commerce stocks jumped on encouraging online holiday shopping numbers.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Keep Their Weekly Win Streak Alive
The main indexes closed mixed Friday, though all three nabbed a fourth straight weekly gain.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Should You Invest In IPOs? It's Still A Risky Prospect
Investing in IPOs may sound exciting, but it's often better to wait for newly public stocks to mature before buying.
By Kim Clark Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Resume Their Winning Ways
The major benchmarks rebounded from a rare down session to post broad-based gains Wednesday.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Lower After Fed Minutes, Retail Earnings
Burlington was a big winner on the earnings front, while Kohl's slumped after its results.
By Karee Venema Published