Cyber Monday helps rally downcast Wall St

Wall Street’s main indexes have fallen amid worries about protests in major Chinese cities against strict COVID-19 policies, although gains in Amazon helped limit losses as Cyber Monday sales were set for a record.

Shares of the e-commerce giant rose two per cent following an industry report that spending on Cyber Monday, the biggest US online shopping day, might go as high as $US11.6 billion ($A17.3 billion), encouraged by some of the biggest discounts and deals to attract inflation-wary consumers.

The biggest drag on the benchmark S&P 500 index, however, were Apple Inc shares, which fell 1.5 per cent after a report that the company would see a further shortfall in production due to unrest at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in China.

Rare protests in major Chinese cities over the weekend against the country’s strict zero-COVID curbs have hit growth expectations in the world’s second-largest economy.

“If these protests continue, it could disrupt supply chains and the reopenings, a glimpse of which we saw earlier this year,” said Brian Klimke, director of investment research at Cetera Financial Group. “It will continue to weigh on investors’ minds going forward.”

The S&P 500 energy index fell 2.5 per cent and led declines among main sectors, as oil prices dropped close to their lowest this year after news of China protests.

Trading in other growth stocks, including Microsoft Corp , Meta Platforms Inc, Nvidia Corp, Netflix Inc and Tesla Inc, were mixed.

In early trading on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 160.29 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 34,186.74, the S&P 500 was down 24.31 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 4,001.81, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 39.21 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 11,187.15.

All three indexes ended the Thanksgiving week with gains, led by the Dow, which rose 1.78 per cent.

Among other stocks, Biogen Inc fell 2.3 per cent following a report of death in its experimental Alzheimer’s drug trial.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc jumped 6.4 per cent after the US Food and Drug Administration accepted the company’s marketing application for experimental gene therapy.

For the week, investors will keep a close watch on non-farm payrolls for November, the second estimate for third-quarter gross domestic product and consumer confidence this month.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.86-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded eight new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 51 new lows.