صاحب‌خبر - In recent years, purchasing managers indexes have become important indicators of where the global economy might be heading. But in the current slowdown, where small businesses were some of the hardest hit, PMI numbers may not be telling the full story. WSJ explains. Photo: Getty Images (Video from 7/1/20)

Investors piled into shares of economically sensitive companies and pulled back from technology stocks Monday, leading to a divergence in major indexes as trading kicked off in May.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 238.38 points, or 0.7%, to close at 34113.23, as shares of cyclical stocks ranging Chevron to Dow to Home Depot rallied. The S&P 500 advanced 11.49 points, or 0.3%, to 4192.66.

The Nasdaq Composite, in contrast, pulled back, falling 67.56 points, or 0.5%, to 13895.12 after starting the day higher. Megacap technology companies including Amazon.com, Netflix and Facebook weighed on the technology-heavy index.

Investors have been heartened lately by signals that economic growth is picking up, with recent data showing that U.S. indicators ranging from consumer spending to jobless claims are improving. Meanwhile, an exceptionally strong earnings season so far—during which most S&P 500 companies have surpassed analysts’ profit expectations—has added to the optimism.

At the same time, however, money managers are assessing the continued spread of Covid-19 in many parts of the world and trying to gauge the outlook for inflation, which could erode the value of investment returns. Rising inflation tends to be particularly problematic for growth and tech stocks, in part because their earnings are expected to come further in the future.

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