US open: Dow Jones extends record-setting rally
Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Monday, with both energy and cybersecurity stocks in focus following a ransomware attack that shut down a major US fuel pipeline.
As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.70% at 35,020.64, while the S&P 500 was 0.03% firmer at 4,233.91 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 1.20% weaker at 13,587.16.
The Dow opened 242.88 points higher on Monday, extending gains recorded on Friday when the blue-chip index registered yet another fresh record high.
Energy stocks were in focus early on Monday after a ransomware attack led to the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, a 5,500-mile system between the Gulf Coast and the New York metropolitan area and transports 45% of the East Coast's fuel supply, on Friday in order to "contain the threat". Colonial said on Sunday that several of its smaller lateral lines were once again online but stated that its main lines were still offline.
Cybersecurity stocks were also benefitted in focus as a result of the news, with shares in FireEye trading higher, while Fortinet and CrowdStrike moved lower at to the open.
Multiple sources claimed the attack was undertaken by a Russian cybercriminal gang called DarkSide. The hackers, who infiltrated Colonial's network on Thursday and took almost 100GB of data hostage, locked the data on computers and servers, vowing to leak said data onto the internet if a ransom is not paid.
Elsewhere in the corporate space, Tesla was 3.86% in the red following Elon Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, Oracle slumped 1.14% on the back of a downgrade by analysts at Barclays and both Facebook and Alphabet moved lower as a result of a downgrade over at Citigroup.
On the macro front, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago president Charles Evans will deliver a speech at 1900 BST.