NEW YORK, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday as persistent gains in the energy sector countered a deepening sell-off in semiconductor and technology shares driven by escalating long-term inflation concerns.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.32 percent to 49,686.12. The S&P 500 sank 0.07 percent to 7,403.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.51 percent to 26,090.73.
Performance across the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors was mixed, with seven finishing in positive territory. Energy and consumer staples led the advancing sectors, climbing 1.81 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively. Conversely, technology and industrials paced the laggards, declining 0.97 percent and 0.42 percent.
The continuous surge in crude oil prices remained a primary catalyst for market anxiety. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery advanced 3.07 percent to settle at 108.66 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery gained 2.6 percent to finish at 112.1 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The energy spike significantly altered macroeconomic projections. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's latest Survey of Professional Forecasters now reveals that economists expect second-quarter annualized inflation to hit 6 percent. This figure is more than double the pre-conflict forecast of 2.7 percent, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve may resort to an interest rate hike later this year.
The technology sector faced a localized downturn centered on the hardware and memory chip industries. Seagate Technology triggered a broad sell-off, falling nearly 7 percent after its CEO Dave Mosley noted at a JPMorgan investor conference that building new manufacturing facilities to alleviate supply constraints would take "too long." The downbeat assessment dragged down industry peers, with Micron Technology, Western Digital, and SanDisk each losing around 5 percent, while artificial intelligence infrastructure leaders Nvidia and Broadcom dropped 1 percent apiece.
Investors are now turning their attention to a critical slate of retail corporate earnings scheduled for this week. Home Depot is set to report its first-quarter results on Tuesday morning, followed by rival Lowe's on Wednesday. Midweek trading will also feature highly anticipated financial updates from Target, alongside off-price retailers TJX Companies and Ross.
