02.02.202614:33:03UTC+00US Stocks Trade Mostly Lower on Monday

U.S. stocks largely experienced downward trends as markets divested their speculative stakes in precious metals, leading to sell-offs from leveraged traders and inducing a risk-averse atmosphere on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 saw declines of up to 0.5%, while the Dow, characterized by its defensive composition, remained above the breakeven line. Mining stocks suffered as gold extended its retreat from record peaks reached last week, with silver falling almost 30% since Thursday, thereby exerting pressure on companies like Newmont and Barrick Gold. Major players in artificial intelligence saw declines, following Nvidia's indication that its intended $100 billion investment in OpenAI had faced setbacks, impacting shares by over 1%. Meanwhile, Palantir shares dropped in anticipation of their earnings report. Conversely, Oracle gained 4% after announcing plans to acquire over $50 billion through debt and equity to expand its cloud infrastructure. Lastly, banking stocks remained stable amidst a steeper yield curve, continuing developments in light of Kevin Warsh's nomination by President Trump for Fed Chairman, known for his stance against an extensively large Federal Reserve balance sheet.