Rumbling Blues & Tumbling TechsAfter racking up a robust gain on Tuesday, the market took a breather today as investors mulled over a couple of sobering data points. Payroll processor ADP announced bright and early that its private sector employment index unexpectedly backpedaled by 39,000 in September, which didn't exactly encourage the bulls ahead of Friday's major jobs report from the government.
Meanwhile, Equinix (EQIX) sparked a major wave of selling pressure across the tech sector after slashing its revenue outlook. With Wall Street on the cusp of another earnings season, many traders interpreted this news as an opportunity to take some money off the table.
"The high-flying cloud technology stocks had a very rough day," said a Wall Street dealer. "The big question now is, are they the canary in the coal mine? And should this be a warning for the rest of the market?"
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 10,967.65) was the only one of the major market indexes to settle higher today, with the blue chips eking out a last-minute gain of about 23 points, or 0.2%. Nineteen of the Dow's 30 components ended higher, led by General Electric (GE), while Bank of America (BAC) paced the 10 decliners. Home Depot (HD) split the difference by finishing flat.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,159.97) made an eleventh-hour attempt to find positive ground, but couldn't quite make it past the breakeven line. The SPX settled for a fractional loss of 0.8 point, or 0.07%.
"The high-flying cloud technology stocks had a very rough day," said a Wall Street dealer. "The big question now is, are they the canary in the coal mine? And should this be a warning for the rest of the market?"
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 10,967.65) was the only one of the major market indexes to settle higher today, with the blue chips eking out a last-minute gain of about 23 points, or 0.2%. Nineteen of the Dow's 30 components ended higher, led by General Electric (GE), while Bank of America (BAC) paced the 10 decliners. Home Depot (HD) split the difference by finishing flat.The S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,159.97) made an eleventh-hour attempt to find positive ground, but couldn't quite make it past the breakeven line. The SPX settled for a fractional loss of 0.8 point, or 0.07%.
Finally, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 2,380.66) ended solidly in the red, shedding 19.2 points, or 0.8%. Despite today's mixed finish, the Dow, SPX, and COMP are all trading comfortably above their respective 10-day moving averages.
Crude futures muscled higher today, with traders taking their
cues from a relatively upbeat inventory report. Despite an unexpectedly substantial surge in crude stockpiles, commodity players were encouraged by larger-than-expected declines in refined products -- including gasoline and heating oil. Following that report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude futures climbed to a daily gain of 41 cents, or 0.5%, to end at $83.20 per barrel -- a new five-month closing high for black gold.Gold Futures It was another day, another all-time high for
gold futures. This morning's lackluster ADP jobs report raised expectations for additional quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve, which naturally triggered demand for gold as a currency hedge. Gold for December delivery tagged an intraday record high of $1,351 per ounce, before settling on a slimmer gain of $7.40, or 0.6%, at $1,347.70 per ounce. HAPPY TRADING
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