NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday as technology shares rebounded from their steepest weekly drop since June.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 36.38 points, or 0.07 percent, to 51,966.03. The benchmark S&P 500 added 31.29 points, or 0.41 percent, to 7,690.73, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 290.85 points, or 1.11 percent, to finish at 26,430.89.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed in negative territory, with utilities and real estate pacing the decliners by dropping 1.97 percent and 1.17 percent, respectively. Bucking the downward pressure, consumer discretionary and technology led the advancers, climbing 2.73 percent and 1.19 percent, respectively.
The strong performance across technology equities signaled renewed investor confidence in the artificial intelligence sector following a sharp retreat last week. Semiconductor makers spearheaded the advance, led by solid gains in industry heavyweights Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel.
CoreWeave finished flat, stabilizing after a 25-percent plunge last week triggered by market anxieties over debt-financed AI infrastructure build-outs. The stabilization followed a rating upgrade to "Buy" from Goldman Sachs.
"Investors are going to become much more discriminating in terms of looking at whether these companies are going to generate the kind of return on capital to justify the debt that they're taking on," said LNW Chief Investment Officer Ron Albahary. "Prior to this wave, this sell-off, I think investors were assuming that all AI investments were going to pay off, and that's not the case."
On the economic front, rising borrowing costs continued to dampen the U.S. residential real estate sector. U.S. Housing Market Index issued by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo dropped three points to 29 in October, plumbing its lowest level since June 2012. The sentiment gauge remained deeply below the neutral 50 threshold, reflecting persistent affordability pressures and elevated mortgage rates.
Market participants are turning their focus to a heavy slate of corporate earnings this week. Automaker General Motors is scheduled to report third-quarter results before Tuesday's opening bell, followed by Netflix after the market close.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla is slated to report Wednesday following the recent unveiling of its redesigned Roadster sports car, alongside quarterly updates from Meta Platforms.
