Wall Street today: S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq slip after Moody’s downgrade, Tesla sheds 4%

Wall Street stocks slipped and US Treasury yields jumped on Monday after ratings agency Moody’s cut the United States’ credit rating.

Moody’s late on Friday slashed the United States’ sovereign credit rating to “Aa1” from “Aaa”, citing rising levels of government debt and interest payment ratios “to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”

As of 11:55 AM Eastern time, the S&P 500 was down 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% lower.

At 09:35 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 222.40 points, or 0.52%, to 42,432.34, the S&P 500 lost 55.42 points, or 0.93%, to 5,902.96, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 257.49 points, or 1.34%, to 18,953.61.

Investors are closely watching the US Congress, where the House is expected to vote this week on President Donald Trump’s fiscal legislation, which pairs tax reductions with cuts to health coverage for low-income Americans.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in television interviews over the weekend that Trump would impose tariffs at the rates he had threatened last month on trading partners that do not negotiate deals in “good faith”.

In the bond market, the Treasury yields spiked after Moody’s cut the US sovereign rating. T he yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.52% from 4.43% late on Friday.

Gainers and Losers

Walmart shares dropped 2.3% after Trump slammed the retailer for warning of price hikes due to his tariffs.

Trump called on the retail giant to “EAT THE TARIFFS” on social media, adding: “I’ll be watching.”

Netflix lost almost 1% after JPMorgan removed the stock from its US analyst focus list.

TXNM Energy shares surged 7.6% after the company said Blackstone’s infrastructure unit would acquire it for $11.5 billion.

Among megacap stocks, Tesla was the worst hit, falling 4.1%.

Chip giant Nvidia edged down 1.4%, Apple fell2.33%, Microsoft rose 0.46%, and Meta Platforms 0.41%.

Bullion

Gold prices rose on Monday, steered by weaker US dollar and safe-haven demand.

Spot gold gained 1% to $3,234.70 an ounce by 1050 ET (1450 GMT). US gold futures added 1.6% to $3,237.80.

Spot silver added 0.2% to $32.33 an ounce and palladium was up 0.9% to $969.38.

Platinum edged 0.4% higher to $991.76.

Crude oil

Oil prices were steady on Monday amid slowing growth in China’s industrial output and retail sales.

Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $65.39 a barrel by 1438 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude inched up 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $62.58.