Jim Cramer explains why the Nasdaq failed to rally on Monday

CNBC’s Jim Cramer examined Monday’s market action, saying the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite failed to rally largely due to a unique one-two punch: The U.S. government and billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“The tag team of the government and Meta may have been too much for everyone,” he said. “At the end of the day, though, buyers finally came in to find bargains in the semis and softwares and the drug stocks.”

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.86% and the S&P 500 finished up 0.16%, the Nasdaq shed 0.38%. As Joe Biden’s administration comes to a close, it announced over the weekend new restrictions on semiconductor exports. And in an interview with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg panned Apple, criticizing the iPhone maker for a lack of innovation, and he supported some of the claims in the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against the company.

Cramer criticized the new export rule and said that such action is “short-sighted,” and the federal government shouldn’t intervene as heavily in the semiconductor world. He also called Zuckerberg’s comments “self-serving and one-sided,” adding that he was surprised to see such a public takedown of the peer company. Cramer also said the interview sets a bad precedent for Meta, adding that if he were Zuckerberg, he wouldn’t help the government go after Big Tech.

Cramer compared tech to the pharmaceutical industry, another sector that faces restrictions from the federal government. He said some drug stocks were able to finish up on Monday because CEOs are managing to make solid cases for their products.

“Are the charges against these two industries just glancing blows?” he asked. “Nah, this was just one day where the bond market didn’t crush every stock. Only the government and, yes, Meta did that job.”

Meta did not immediately respond to request for comment.