US stocks traded lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 200 points. The broader market weakness coincided with a decline in the Dallas Fed's general business activity index for Texas manufacturing, which dropped to 9.8 in September from 11.6 in August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.42% to 51,611.16. The NASDAQ Composite fell 0.62% to 26,900.43, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.55% to 7,700.96.

Sector performance and movers

Health care shares rose 0.3%, providing limited support amid broader market declines. Communication services stocks led the downside among sectors, falling 1.4%.

Several small-cap equities experienced significant volatility:

• Knorex Ltd (NYSE: KNRX) shares rose 298% to $1.23 after announcing a strategic carve-out of AscendX Media Technologies Pte. Ltd, its wholly owned publisher monetization subsidiary.
• Kodiak Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: KOD) surged 177% to $89.52 following the announcement that primary endpoints were met for Zenkuda and tabirafusp-ted in the Phase 3 DAYBREAK study for wet age-related macular degeneration.
• Volato Group Inc (NYSE: SOAR) gained 110% to $0.37 after its Alignment Engine subsidiary secured two four-year take-or-pay orders.

Conversely, several stocks faced steep losses:

• TEN Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: XHLD) dropped 93% to $0.92.
• Neo-Concept International Grp Hldngs Ltd (NASDAQ: NCI) fell 85% to $2.14.
• Masonglory Ltd (NASDAQ: MSGY) declined 65% to $2.84 after announcing a $1 million private placement of 667K Class A shares at $1.50 per share with Series A and Series B warrants.

Global market trends

European markets closed mixed. The STOXX 600 rose 0.01%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.51%. London's FTSE 100 declined 0.1%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.13%, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.01%.

Asian markets ended lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.73%, China's SSE Composite Index tumbled 1.67%, and India's BSE Sensex fell 1.52%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was an outlier, gaining 0.54%.

Commodities

Commodity prices showed divergent movements. Oil traded up 0.2% to $92.61, while gold fell 3.5% to $4,170.10. Silver declined 4.7% to $61.740, and copper dropped 1.7% to $6.6500.

What the numbers show

The divergence between equity market declines and specific sector or commodity movements highlights mixed investor sentiment. While the broad indices fell, health care bucked the trend with a 0.3% rise. Additionally, the drop in the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index to 9.8 suggests cooling business activity in Texas, potentially contributing to the cautious trading environment that saw communication services fall 1.4%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 479 points higher at 51,828.62 on Friday, driven by a retreat in crude oil prices amid hopes for an Iran-brokered reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the rally, market sentiment remained cautious, with the CNN Business Fear & Greed Index holding at 37, firmly within the "Fear" zone.

Market performance and sector trends

Major U.S. indices recorded gains for the week, with the S&P 500 adding 1.2% and the Nasdaq rising 2%. On Friday specifically, the S&P 500 gained 0.51% to 7,743.41, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.48% to 27,068.72. Information technology, industrials, and financial stocks led the gains, while communication services and energy sectors closed lower.

Corporate developments and economic data

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) shares gained over 3% on Friday after Anthropic committed to an $11.6 billion, seven-year cloud-infrastructure deal. However, investors pared some gains as they weighed the roughly $5.5 billion in capital expenditures Akamai will front ahead of that revenue.

On the economic front, U.S. durable goods orders came in largely flat month-over-month at $338.6 billion in August, following two straight monthly gains and versus market estimates of a 0.4% decline. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose to 48.1 in September from a preliminary level of 47.8.

Sentiment indicators and upcoming events

The CNN Business Fear & Greed Index, which measures market sentiment on a scale of 0 (maximum fear) to 100 (maximum greed), stood at 37 on Friday, up slightly from 36. The index is calculated based on seven equally weighted indicators, reflecting the tension between price momentum and safe-haven demand.

Investors are awaiting earnings results from Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN), and IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT). Washington and Beijing extended their trade truce without announcing new tariffs, providing a stable backdrop for these corporate updates.