Memory chip stocks slide on China's rise

Micron falls 3.9%, Nvidia drops 1.3%

Oil climbs about 2% after Saudi airport strike

Markets cautious ahead of key economic data

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. [Reuters]
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. [Reuters]

Wall Street's three major indexes closed mixed Monday (local time).

Trading was thin due to the Columbus Day holiday, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite both finishing lower as rising oil prices and a selloff in memory chip stocks weighed on sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38 percent to close at 51,850.55.

However, the S&P 500 fell 0.06 percent to 7,807.24, and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.44 percent to 27,245.90.

Memory chip-related stocks were a notable weak spot in the technology sector.

The drag appeared to stem from news that CXMT — widely regarded as a vanguard of China's semiconductor self-sufficiency drive — announced progress in DRAM memory technology and plans to launch a next-generation server memory product, DDR5 RDIMM, using the 4F² DRAM architecture by year-end.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 2.60 percent, and Micron Technology plunged 3.88 percent.

SK hynix's American depositary receipts also fell 4.02 percent. Nvidia, Broadcom and AMD each declined around 2 percent.

Concerns about high interest rates and the profitability of AI investment also appeared to weigh on semiconductor stocks.

Rising oil prices added further pressure on equities. Crude climbed for a third consecutive trading day as geopolitical tensions escalated following a strike on Riyadh's international airport in Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude for December delivery settled up 1.84 percent at $106.65 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose 2.06 percent to $93.74.

Brent's close was its highest since Sept. 15, and WTI's since Sept. 24.

Earlier, President Donald Trump had announced an agreement to expand Russian diesel exports and halt attacks on energy facilities in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but back-to-back Houthi strikes targeting Saudi Arabia continued to stoke supply concerns.

Investor attention is now turning to the US September consumer price index, due Wednesday, followed by the producer price index on Thursday. Anxiety is growing that government bond yields — already at elevated levels — could climb further depending on the inflation readings.

Major bank earnings kicking off this week are also in focus. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are all set to report quarterly results.

Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion, told CNBC that "all attention will be on corporate earnings," adding that even if inflation data comes in hotter than expected, it is unlikely to shift the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction.

Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, said there are "a lot of things to be cautious about," describing the market as being "like walking down a dark railroad track, not knowing if a train is coming — you move very carefully."


jiyun@heraldcorp.com