New York, May 18, 2026, 16:01 (EDT)
- The Dow closed little changed at about 49,500. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped as tech stocks moved down.
- Oil prices and Treasury yields pushed on risk appetite again.
- Nvidia reports Wednesday, with Walmart’s numbers due later this week—both are seen as the next key tests for the rally.
Dow finishes flat as tech stocks drop, chip names fall
The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved on Monday, slipping 4.47 points, or 0.01%, to 49,521.70, according to Reuters market data. The blue-chip index held up while the S&P 500 lost 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.65%. Investors sold off chips and other tech names, rotating into areas of the Dow’s 30 stocks.
The shift wasn’t a broad selloff in stocks. It was a more targeted move — the Dow held up thanks to support outside the big tech names, even as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell. The Dow is a price-weighted index, so companies with higher share prices move it more. S&P Dow Jones Indices calls the Dow a price-weighted average tracking 30 U.S. blue chips.
The Dow ended Monday almost flat at 49,562, according to end-of-day figures from Investing.com. The index moved in a range between 49,352.95 and 49,760.24. On Friday it closed at 49,526.17, so Monday’s change was slight.
Treasury yields and oil moved markets. The 10-year Treasury yield, which guides mortgage and business borrowing, was trading around 4.63% earlier. That puts it near levels last seen in February 2025. West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. crude, added 2.9% to $108.45 a barrel in late trade. A basis point means one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
“There’s concern about the rally we’ve had in a short period of time,” Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York, told Reuters. He pointed to profit-taking after the market’s sharp rebound. Reuters
3M and Salesforce offered some support to the Dow late in the day, but Caterpillar and Nvidia weighed on the index, TheStreet said. That mix made the Dow seem less jumpy than the Nasdaq, which skews more toward tech.
Semi stocks lagged. The S&P 500 tech sector dropped, Reuters said, with Nvidia’s results on Wednesday set to gauge the AI trade built on chip and data center spending. Walmart earnings out later this week will also give investors a look at how shoppers are handling high energy prices.
Oliver Pursche, senior vice president and adviser at Wealthspire Advisors, told Reuters that Trump’s China visit “left a lot of open questions” on Taiwan, which is important for chips. He said that’s part of why the sector saw pressure, together with profit-taking. Reuters
The Dow stayed steady Monday, but that could change fast. A jump in oil, another move up in Treasury yields, or a miss from Nvidia could spark more selling, with losses spreading from tech to Dow stocks like industrials and financials that didn’t fall as much today.
Bitunix analyst Dean Chen wrote that “capital is waiting for clearer direction” on geopolitics, rates, and regulation. That’s how the market looked after the bell: weak conviction, no panic. Investopedia
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