US Equity Indexes Retreat While Gold Surges in Midday Trading

US equity indexes fell, with technology leading the decliners and gold futures surging after midday on Monday. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 18,793.9, with the S&P 500 down 0.1% to 5,954.5 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.1% lower at 43,802.8 after midday on Monday. Technology and energy led the decliners, while real estate was the biggest gainer. Gold futures soared 1.9% to $2,902.10, and their silver counterparts advanced 2.9% to $32.40. The CBOE's volatility index VIX, which was trading down earlier in the session, jumped 3.9% to 20.39. US Treasury yields were mixed, with the 2-year rose one basis point to 4.01% while the 10-year dropped 3.2 basis points to 4.20%. In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index fell to 50.3 in February from 50.9 in January, compared with expectations for 50.8 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. In company news, servers linked to a fraud case in Singapore may have included Nvidia (NVDA) chips and were supplied by Dell Technologies (DELL) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI) to local companies before being delivered to Malaysia, multiple news outlets reported Monday, citing Singapore's Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam. Shares of Super Micro dropped 6.1% intraday, the worst performer on the S&P 500. Nvidia retreated 4.9% intraday, the steepest decliner on the Nasdaq and the Dow. Shares of Dell slid 3.1% intraday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures slipped 0.2% to $69.60 a barrel.