Nervous Nasdaq
Election worries and woes left stocks depressed Wednesday in a pre-holiday
day of trading that traditionally bodes well for stocks. Nasdaq stocks took the
biggest hit, falling 4.0% amid concerns about future profit and revenue growth.
With Thursday’s dismal performance, the Nasdaq closed at a 52-week low, nearly
47% off its March 10 intraday high.
Weakness in financials, drugs, and transportation weighed on the blue chips
as well, as the Dow and S&P 500 slipped 0.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Nasdaq volume picked up by 7% from Tuesday, with 1.86 billion shares changing
hands. NYSE volume fell 12%, as a still hefty 966 million shares changed hands.
“All summer long and certainly in September and October everyone was
looking for a classic capitulation, where everyone throws in the towel across
the board, from the individual investor to the money manager, and that’s the
type of action that we’re really seeing today,” said Charles Payne,
President, WallStreetStrategies.com.
“Frustrations, questions, and just an outright lack of enthusiasm or
disillusionment has led to a broad based throwing in of the towel in the market.
I think there are certainly some over-reactions, and technology stocks obviously
paying the brunt of the price,” he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq fell 116.22 to 2755.23, the Dow
lost 95.18 to 10,399.32, and the S&P 500 lost 24.99 to 1322.36.
While most sectors were underwater, two winners were gold and silver
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up 3.4% and biotechnology
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Biggest losers included oil services
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broker/dealers
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9.0%.
Among Dow winners were Coke
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up 2.7%, Procter & Gamble
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1.2%.
Dow losers were General Electric
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down 4.3%, and Boeing
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Looking ahead, markets will be closed for Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday,
and Friday’s abbreviated session will end at 1:00 PM ET. Happy Thanksgiving to
all!