Dow Comes Off Day's Lows; Nasdaq Notably Lower As Export Controls On China Weighs

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are down in negative territory Monday afternoon, with those from the technology section posting sharp losses.

Worries about economic slowdown amid rising interest rates continue to weigh on sentiment.

Technology stocks are weighed down by the Biden administration's decision to impose export controls on China. Washington published a set of export controls that limit companies selling advanced computing semiconductors and manufacturing equipment to China.

The major averages are all down in negative territory despite coming off the session's lows. The Dow, which plunged nearly 300 points to 29,010.41 earlier in the session, is down 37.51 points or 0.13 percent at 29,259.28.

The S&P 500 is down 19.07 points or 0.52 percent at 3,620.59, off the session's low of 3,588.10. The Nasdaq, which dropped to 10,449.04, its lowest level in more than 2 years, is down 91.61 points or 0.86 percent at 10,560.79.

Shares of Qualcomm, Micro Technology Inc, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are all down in negative territory, losing between 1 and 4 percent. Intel is down by about 1.4 percent.

Salesforce.com, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Chevron and Nike are notably lower.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is surging more than 4 percent. Merck is climbing 3.2 percent. Amgen and Boeing are also up with strong gains.

Worries about rising interest rates continue to hurt sentiment. Data from the Labor Department last week added to rate concerns. The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 263,000 jobs in September after surging by an unrevised 315,000 jobs in August and spiking by an upwardly revised 537,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected employment to leap by 250,000 jobs.

The slightly stronger than expected job growth reflected notable increases in employment in the leisure and hospitality and healthcare sectors, which added 83,000 jobs and 75,400 jobs, respectively.

Economists noted the job growth was even stronger excluding a drop in state and local government education payrolls, which reflected shifting seasonal patterns in teacher hiring.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in September from 3.7 percent in August, while economists expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.

U.S. inflation data, minutes from the Fed's September meeting and reports on retail sales and consumer sentiment due this week will provide more insights into policymakers' view of where inflation stands and the outlook for the future path of interest rates.