Stocks are closing lower on Monday due to losses in the tech sector led
by Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. Facebook, which was already reeling after a whistleblower
interview, led a fall in the markets as its stocks slid more than 5% after
the company faced a global outage.  

The S&P 500 fell 1.3% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.1%. Apple
fell 2.9% and Microsoft fell 2.4%. Big communication companies also slipped.
Facebook fell 5.5% a day after a former employee told “60 Minutes”
that the company has consistently chosen its own interests over the public
good. The social network and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms also were
apparently down worldwide on Monday.

Meanwhile, the price of US oil rose to $77.62 per barrel, the highest
close since 2014, as OPEC and allied oil producers stuck to a plan for cautious
production increases even as global demand for crude rises. Higher energy
prices helped oil companies gain ground. Tesla rose 0.8% after the electric
vehicle maker reported surprisingly good third-quarter deliveries. The yield on
the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.49% from 1.47% on Friday.

Natural gas prices jumped 2.6%. Energy companies rose along with energy
prices. Devon Energy rose 5.5% and Marathon Oil climbed 4.4%.

“You’re seeing energy doing well on the back of energy prices, and
you’re seeing some of those sectors that had led in the past few months are
weaker now,” said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at
Verdence Capital Advisors.

Investors are increasingly worried about inflation as oil prices rise
and companies continue facing supply problems that increase their costs and
force them to raise prices. Wall Street is also worried about the Federal
Reserve’s timing on trimming back bond purchases and its eventual move to raise
its benchmark interest rate.

Investors are also preparing for the latest round of corporate earnings,
which will ramp up in the next several weeks. They are also still closely
monitoring economic data for more signals about the pace of the recovery as
businesses and consumers continue to deal with the impact of COVID-19 and the
highly contagious delta variant.

Wall Street will get more information on the economy’s health this week.
On Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management will release its service sector
index for September. The services sector is the largest part of the economy and
its health is a key factor for growth.

On Friday, the Labor Department will release its employment report for
September. The employment market has been struggling to fully recover from the
damage done by COVID-19 more than a year ago.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s benchmark fell more than 2% after troubled property
developer China Evergrande’s shares were suspended from trading. Shares in most
European markets edged higher.

(With AP inputs)