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Gold prices rose for a second session Monday as investors sought safe-haven assets as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea remain elevated with the two countries continuing to exchange verbal threats. A softer U.S. dollar also helped to fuel some demand for gold. December gold added $10.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,285 an ounce.

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Shares of Tesla Inc. dropped 2% in morning trade Monday, on track to snap a five-session win streak, after the company said it would delay the unveiling of its electric semi truck. The stock had rallied 4.6% last week during its win streak, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1%, despite saying early in the week that the low-priced Model 3 ran into “production bottlenecks.” Late Friday, Chief Executive Elon Musk said the event to unveil the semi truck would be pushed back to Nov. 1 from Oct. 26, because of issues with the Model 3 and the potential project to help Puerto Rico recover. Tesla’s stock has soared 64% year to date, while shares of rivals General Motors Co. have climbed 29% and Ford Motor Co. have gained 1.2%, and the S&P 500 has rallied 14%.

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Movie theater stocks were down during intraday trade on Monday after newly released “Blade Runner 2049” underperformed at the box office over the weekend and overall revenue fell short of expectations. Shares of AMC Entertainment Corp. were down nearly 7% on Monday, while Regal Entertainment Group shares fell more than 4%, Cinemark Holdings Inc. shares were down 3%, Imax Corp. shares were down 2% and shares of Marcus Corp. were down more than 1%. The top 10 films from the weekend earned a total of $93 million, which was below a $109 million estimate from MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler. The much-anticipated “Blade Runner 2049” failed to live up to the excitement it generated at the box office. The film, distributed by Time Warner Inc.-owned Warner Bros. brought in $31.5 million in its opening weekend. Analysts at Box Office Pro had forecast the film would pull in $54 million. Cinema stocks have struggled recently as a slew of high profile blockbusters have underperformed and concerns of shrinking exclusive theatrical windows and digital disruption have continued to loom over the industry. Analysts still believe the 2017 box office, down 5% in the year to date, can turn around with upcoming potential hits, such as “Thor: Ragnorak,” “Justice League” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” In the year to date, shares of AMC are down more than 57%, Imax shares are down more than 30%, Regal shares are down more than 22%, Marcus Corp. shares are down more than 11% and shares of Cinemark are down more than 4%. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 15% during the same period.

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General Electric Co.’s stock slumped 2.8% in morning trade Monday, putting it in danger of the lowest close in over two years, after J.P. Morgan analyst C. Stephen Tusa the recent management changes were a “clear negative” for the industrial conglomerate. The stock was the biggest percentage decliner in the Dow Jones Industrial Average , with the price decline of 69 cents shaving about 5 points off the price of the Dow, which was down 1 point. GE said late Friday that Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Bornstein will be succeeded by Jamie Miller, effective Nov. 1. The company also announced the retirement of its vice chairs, and said Monday that it elected the CIO of activist investor Trian Fund Management to its board. “While not an implausible event, we believe the management changes at GE reinforce our view that core fundamental challenges are worse than consensus is currently discounting, with a new wrinkle added around possible outcomes from events this Fall, almost none of which are positive,” Tusa wrote in a note to clients. He reiterated his underweight rating on GE. The stock, on track to close at the lowest level since Aug. 25, 2015, has plunged 25% year to date, while the Dow has climbed 15%.

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U.S. stock-market indexes opened higher and hit intraday records shortly after the opening bell on Monday. The gains on Wall Street follow solid returns last week. The S&P 500 was up 2 points, or 0.1%, to 2,551. trading a point below its record set last week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 6 points, or 0.1%, to 6,596. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13 points, or 0.1%, to 22,786 at the open. Among the best performer on Wall Street, Kohl’s jumped after analysts at Telsey Advisory Group the stock was raised to outperform from market perform.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will launch Mobile Express Returns, an addition to the Wal-Mart app that lets customers start the process for returning an item from their mobile device then complete the transaction in a store. The new service sets a goal of bringing the time it takes to return an item to 30 seconds, said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of Walmart services and digital acceleration, on a media call Friday. Mobile Express Returns will be available starting early November for items sold and shipped from the Walmart website. It will apply to in-store purchases in early 2018. This is the third Mobile Express offering from Wal-Mart after Mobile Express Money Services and Mobile Express Pharmacy. Wal-Mart shares are up 0.5% in Monday premarket trading, and up 14.3% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% for 2017 to date, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 15.2% for the period.

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Shares of AES Corp. fell 1% in premarket trade Monday, after the power company said it expects adjusted 2017 earnings per share to be in the “lower half” of its previously provided $1.00-to-$1.10 guidance range, citing the negative impact of recent hurricanes. The company said the hurricanes potentially reduced adjusted EPS by 3 cent to 5 cents. AES said one of the two power generating units in Puerto Rico that sustained damage is now available to generate electricity, while the inspection of the other is ongoing. A solar plant in the U.S. Virgin Islands was “materially damaged.” The stock has rallied 4.0% over the past three months, while the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF has gained 3.8% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 5.1%.

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Shares of The Walt Disney Co. were upgraded to RBC Capital Markets’ top pick in the media sector on Monday by analyst Steven Cahall. Disney has reached a turning point as EPSN gets close to representing less than 20% of the media and entertainment company’s earnings and Disney focuses on direct-to-consumer streaming efforts and affiliate renewals, Cahall wrote in a note to investors. “With a shift to direct-to-consumer, declining contribution from ESPN and strong growth in non-media segments we see Disney as increasingly an execution story at parks and studio,” Cahall wrote. “We now consider Disney the best positioned stock in the media sector. Its strategy for the next five years is clear… While investors will need to wait a few years to truly measure the direct-to-consumer strategy’s success, we think the total addressable market for the Disney service is potentially massive.” Cahall lowered his 12-month price target on the stock slightly to $125 from $130. Disney shares were up less than 1% during premarket trade. Shares are down 4% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 14% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up more than 15% during the same time frame.

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Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. shares surged nearly 3% in premarket trade Monday after RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Eckler said he sees a “compelling argument” for faster-than-normal approval of Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug golodirsen. Sarepta recently released positive early/mid-stage clinical trial results for the DMD drug, and presented more data at a conference over the weekend. “Full golodirsen biopsy results look consistent and high-quality; suggest efficacy likely better than Exondys 51,” Eckler said, referring to Sarepta’s DMD drug that was approved last year after an unusual amount of controversy. Sarepta thus has a “compelling argument for engaging FDA on accelerated approval (meeting likely 1Q18), in our view,” Eckler said. Sarepta shares have surged nearly 50% over the last three months, compared with a 5% rise in the S&P 500 .

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Bpost, a Belgian company that provides mail and parcel services, has acquired U.S.-based Radial, a privately-owned company that provides e-commerce fulfillment and other logistical services, in deal valued at $820 million. Radial fulfilled more than 306 million units across 24 fulfillment centers in 2016, and recently announced that it will hire 27,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. Radial’s expected 2017 normalized annual revenues will be between $970 million and $1.02 billion. Bpost plans to use Radial to build upon its U.S. Landmark Global business. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF is down 5.5% for the year so far while the S&P 500 index is up 15.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 14% for the period.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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