Meta's 4.8% slide makes communication services the worst sector fund
The communication services fund fell 1.6% on Monday, September 28, as Meta dropped 4.8%, and the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.24%.
Key takeaways
The fund that holds the large US phone, media and internet companies, XLC, fell 1.6% on Monday, the worst of the eleven sector funds. Meta, nearly a quarter of that fund, fell 4.8% and accounted for most of the drop.
The slide followed reports that OpenAI is expected to show a consumer assistant on Tuesday, one that would compete with Muse, the agent Meta launched this month. Meta had already fallen 3.3% on Friday. Over the week that ended that day, the stock was still up 13%.
Alphabet, about a fifth of the same fund, barely moved. Its two stocks in the fund fell 0.3% and 0.6%.
SPY, the fund that holds the S&P 500, fell 0.8%. Eight of the eleven sector funds finished lower.
Communication services was the worst of eleven sector funds
Tesla, then technology
Consumer discretionary was the next worst. XLY, the fund that holds companies selling cars, travel and online shopping, fell 1.4%. Tesla fell 3.9% and Amazon fell 1.4%, and those two holdings accounted for most of that decline.
Technology fell even with its largest holding up. VGT, the fund that holds US technology companies, fell 0.8%.
Nvidia rose 1.7% after the company added $150 billion to the amount it can spend buying its own shares, taking the total still available to $235 billion. The company called that the largest buyback increase on record. Apple fell 0.8% and Microsoft fell 1.3%.
Yields at a June 2007 high, oil off its peak
The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.24%, the highest since June 2007. It was 5.18% on Friday and 5.11% on Wednesday. TLT, the fund that holds long-term US Treasurys, fell 0.9% and traded at a 52-week low.
Brent crude, the international oil price, traded as high as $108.81 and was at $105.72 late in the day, up 1.3%. The rise followed President Donald Trump's rejection on Saturday of Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane Iran has restricted since February.
It came off that high after a White House official said Trump is open to sanctions relief if Iran makes concrete progress on a nuclear deal, and after Saudi Arabia restarted a pipeline that had been shut earlier this month. US crude was up 0.7% at $93.08 late in the day.
XLE, the fund that holds large US energy companies, rose 0.1%. Exxon rose 1.2% and Chevron rose 0.9%, and losses elsewhere in the fund offset most of those gains.
Meta and Tesla pulled the two worst sector funds down. Nvidia's record buyback was not enough to keep technology up.
Frequently asked
How much did the communication services fund fall?
It fell 1.6% on Monday, the worst of the eleven sector funds.
Why did Meta fall?
The slide followed reports that OpenAI is expected to show a consumer assistant on Tuesday that would compete with Muse, the agent Meta launched this month.
Which sector fund was next worst?
Consumer discretionary fell 1.4%, and Tesla's 3.9% drop and Amazon's 1.4% drop accounted for most of that decline.
Where did the 10-year yield close?
It closed at 5.24%, the highest since June 2007.
