Asian shares fall as markets watch omicron, central banks

Stocks ended another bumpy day with mixed results on Wall Street Monday. The S&P 500 went up, down, up, and then down again in the last hour of trading to wind up with a loss of 0.4%. Losses in several big tech companies left the Nasdaq down 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed essentially unchanged. Small-company stocks rose. The uncertain trading follows weeks of volatility for major indexes as traders try to figure out how stock valuations will be affected by the interest rate hikes looming on the horizon as the Federal Reserves moves to tame inflation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Stocks turned higher on Wall Street Monday afternoon as investors prepare for another busy week of corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 3:04 p.m. Eastern after shaking off a midday slump. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 179 points, or 0.5%, to 35,269 and the Nasdaq rose 0.3%. Small-company stocks outpaced the broader market. The Russell 2000 rose 1.2%.

Energy and financial companies made solid gains. Chevron rose 2.3% and insurer Allstate rose 2.5%.

Retailers, travel-related companies and others that rely on direct consumer spending also gained ground. the gains. Amazon rose 1.2% and Carnival rose 8.3%.

Losses for several big technology and communications companies tempered gains elsewhere in the market. Facebook’s parent, Meta, fell 4.8% and Google's parent company Alphabet fell 1.9%. Microsoft fell 0.7%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.92% from 1.93% late Friday.

Wall Street is coming off of two weeks of gains following a January stumble that served partially as a “pressure relief valve," said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.

“Some of the emotion that we’ve been dealing with in the first several weeks of the year has started to ease,” he said. “You almost needed that; the expectations had been so high.”

Investors are still gauging the impact of rising inflation on businesses and consumers while remaining cautious about the Federal Reserve’s plan to fight inflation. Investors will get another key update on inflation Thursday with the Labor Department’s report on consumer prices for January.

The Fed plans to raise interest rates to fight inflation. Investors expect the first hikes in March and are wary about the pace and quantity of rate increases in 2022.

Investors have another busy week reviewing the latest corporate report cards. Meat producer Tyson Foods rose 11.6% after reporting strong results.

Several big companies are on deck this week to report their results, including Pfizer on Tuesday and Walt Disney on Wednesday. Twitter and Coca-Cola will report on Thursday.

Outside of earnings, several companies gained ground on buyout news. Spirit Airlines jumped 18% after Frontier Airlines’ parent company agreed to buy the carrier in a deal worth $2.9 billion.

Peloton rose 20.5% following reports that the exercise bike and treadmill company is a buyout target for companies including Nike and Amazon. The company has been on a roller-coaster ride since the pandemic began. Its stock surged more than 400% in 2020 as COVID-19 forced lockdowns and shifted the workout trend from the gym to home. It spend 2021 giving back nearly all of those gains as businesses reopened and people started heading back to gyms.

Shares have been choppy this year for Peloton, especially following reports in January that its was temporarily halting production of its connected fitness products amid waning consumer demand. Activist investor Blackwells Capital asked the company to remove CEO John Foley and consider selling the company just a few days after those reports.