"We're experiencing continued fallout from the negative momentum
we've endured for almost two weeks now," suggested Schaeffer's
Senior Equity Analyst Joe Bell. "Throw in the very poor Philly
Fed's manufacturing index this morning, and sellers once again
pushed this market down." With that, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)
marked its fifth consecutive session lower, and its first daily
close below its 140-day moving average since Nov. 29.
Keep reading to see what else was on our radar today:
- Lagging market got you down?
Head for the biotech sector.
- Beware the
slow, steady drop
in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (
SPY
).
-
Will the Street get a boost
from the recent oversold conditions?
And now, a look at the numbers...
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,442.49)
suffered its worst daily close since Jan. 13, plummeting 156.1
points, or 1.2%. The Dow closed just above its session low of
12,440.52, tagged in the last minutes of trading. All but six blue
chips finished with losses, as Caterpillar's (
CAT
) 4.4% drop led the parade of underperformers.
Wal-Mart's (
WMT
) earnings-induced bounce
of 4.2% paced the winning issues.
The
S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,304.86)
slipped back below the 1,330 level today, and burned off 19.9
points, or 1.5%, by the time the dust settled. The
Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,813.69)
turned in the worst performance of its peers, declining 60.4
points, or 2.1%.
The
CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 24.49)
touched its highest daily settlement since Dec. 19, vaulting nearly
10% today. The VIX closed just below its late-session high of
24.51.
Today's highlight
: The
broad-market sell-off
today was caused in part by the
usual suspects in the euro zone
and a
couple of disappointing domestic economic
reports
. "Although it might not mean much for the overall market, we are
zeroing in on Facebook's (
FB
) IPO tomorrow," said Bell. "It just might give us a welcome
distraction from the slow grind lower we can't seem to escape."
Turning to today's major market stories...
For today's activity in commodities, options, and more, head
to page 2.
Oil futures notched another six-month low and fell to their
fifth loss in a row today. Concerns with Greece and Spain, as well
as poor manufacturing data at home, proved to be too much for the
commodity, and by the close, crude for June delivery pinched off 25
cents, or 0.3%, to close at $92.56 a barrel.
One session after reaching their
lowest point in 10 months
, gold futures rallied today. As bargain investors took advantage
of the precious metal's recent weakness, June-dated gold jumped
$38.30, or 2.5%, to land at $1,574.90 an ounce.
Levels to Watch in Trading
:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,442.49) - support at
11,500; resistance at 14,000
- S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,304.86) - support at 1,100;
resistance at 1,500
- Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 2,813.69) - support at 2,400;
resistance at 3,400
For today's notable annual highs and lows,
click here
.
At the end of every market day, the staff at Schaeffer's
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