The S&P 500 fell 0.34% and the Dow was off 0.17%. The S&P 500 ended a streak of seven straight positive days. The strongest areas of the market were consumer discretionary stocks, technology, and telecom services. Energy, financials, industrials, and materials were the lagging areas of the market.
Today was the first negative trading day of September. Transportation stocks were the driver that sent the industrial sector lower today. Counter cyclical stocks outperformed. Telecom services added 1.0% and staples, health care, and utilities were off slightly.
Crude oil was higher by 1% while other commodities came under severe pressure. Gold declined by 2.5% and silver was lower by more than 5%. Mining stocks advanced strongly in August, testing technical resistance levels. Mining shares have come under severe pressure here in September.
Financials were leaders to the downside. Many leading banks reported at an industry conference today. Investors were concerned over the sharp recent decline in mortgage-based business in response to the recent spike in interest rates.
Media stocks outperformed after Disney announced a major share buyback program. Pure-play media content stocks were led higher by Viacom and AMC Networks. The Internet space was led by social media stocks. Pandora spiked after a new CEO was announced. Groupon traded as much as 5% higher for much of the day and closed higher by nearly 2%. Gaming and hotel stocks gave back some of their recent gains. There were some analyst upgrades in the area today. Shares in this group succumbed to some profit taking in today’s trading.
Drug stores and distributors were the best area of health care today. The sector was essentially unchanged. Walgreen’s closed higher by 5% after it was added to the Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs.
Source: PFS Group
