Stock Market Today

An afternoon rally helped the major indexes snap their short skid. But Twitter accepting Elon Musk's bid stole the spotlight.

Regardless of what happens, Tony DeSpirito, CIO of BlackRock's U.S. Fundamental Active Equities, believes that it's best to take a more defensive positioning. - Lululemon Athletica (LULU) fell 4% after Jefferies analyst Randal Konik downgraded the yoga apparel maker to Underperform (Sell) from Hold. The analyst cited concerns over LULU's "sky high" sales per square feet, as well as rising competition in an increasingly crowded space. The S&P 500 Index declined 1.2% to 3,854 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.5% to end at 31,173. In addition to the start of second-quarter earnings season, inflation data will remain front and center. Shares in the social media platform were hit by reports that Tesla ( TSLA, -6.6%) CEO Elon Musk will terminate his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. The directives included a week-long shutdown of non-essential businesses in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, which sent casino stocks tumbling. A lot, that's for sure. So, what's in store for this week? "We believe there is limited upside ahead, especially as recession risks rise, and there is uncertainty as it relates to the performance of footwear and MIRROR [LULU's home gym], limiting visibility," Konik says. In terms of the sector logging the worst performance to kick off the trading week, that distinction easily went to communication services, which fell 3.0% amid an 11.3% drop in Twitter ( TWTR) stock. "Oil prices are weakening as crude demand outlook is hit by a one-two punch from China's rising COVID cases and Wall Street jitters that inflation is hitting the U.S. economy much harder than analysts were expecting," says Edward Moya, senior market strategist at currency data provider OANDA. "Oil will struggle to hold the $100 level if China's COVID situation deteriorates much further." The news out of China also weighed on oil prices, with U.S. crude futures shedding 0.7% to end at $104.90 per barrel.