Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday in spite of a late rally on the first day of February, as the major indices attempt to rebound from a shaky opening month of the year amid sharp declines in oil prices and a massive sell-off in Chinese equities.
In Monday's session, crude oil and China continued to weigh, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Composite index fell as much as 165 and 20 points respectively, before rallying late in the session. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 appeared primed to close in positive figures, but reversed territory in the final minutes. The rally was inspired by dovish comments from Federal Reserve governor Stanley Fischer, who reiterated on Monday that the U.S. central bank's monetary policy will remain accommodative in the near-term future, while the Fed raises rates gradually.
Any delays to the Fed's tightening cycle this year are viewed as bullish as for the major indices.
The Dow lost 17.12 or 0.12% to 16,449.18, while the NASDAQ Composite index added 6.42 or 0.14% to close at 4,620.37, extending gains from late last week. The S&P 500, meanwhile, inched down 0.86 or 0.04% to 1,939.38, as three of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Energy, Financials and Industrials sectors lagged, while stocks in the Utilities, Telecommunications and Consumer Services industries led.
The top performer on the Dow was American Express Company (N:AXP), which gained 1.20 or 2.24% to close 54.70. American Express (N:AXP) is coming off a disappointing fourth quarter when its sales plunged nearly 40%, ahead of the termination of its lucrative 16-year exclusive partnership with Costco (O:COST). The worst performer was Exxon Mobil Corporation (N:XOM), which lost 1.56 or 2.00% to end Monday's session at 76.29. Hours earlier, crude futures closed under $32 a barrel, after losing more than 5% on the session to halt a four-day winning streak.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Avago Technologies Ltd (O:AVGO), after Broadcom (O:BRCM) limited announced that it completed an acquisition of Avago Technologies limited, under an arrangement permissible by Singapore law. The worst performer was MAT, after the toy giant acquired baby health wearable company Sproutling on Monday.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was SYY, which added 3.34 or 8.39% to 43.15. Sysco (N:SYY) shares soared to a fresh 52-week high after topping analysts' expectations with its second quarter revenues. The worst performer was Kinder Morgan Inc (N:KMI), which lost 1.26 or 7.66% to 15.19.
"I am very pleased with our second quarter results," Sysco CEO Bill DeLaney said in a statement. "We achieved strong local case growth, while managing gross margins well and also containing operating expense growth. Through the first six-months of the year, we are on-track to achieve our financial objectives for the first year of our three-year plan."
Investors await the release of Alphabet Inc C (O:GOOG) earnings on Monday after the close of trading. It marks the first quarterly release from the tech giant since Google (O:GOOGL) rebranded itself late last year.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,560 to 1,485 margin.