The market remained quite weak today, with options expirations and S&P rebalancing adding to the trading volume, but not resulting in much movement. The major indices came off their lows in the last hour of trading, with the Dow managing to sneak into positive territory, but I wouldn’t call today’s action a very impressive performance.
The Dow Industrials finished with a gain of 2 points to 10628, the S&P 500 fell 1 point (-0.1%) to 1189 and the Nasdaq labored yet again, dropping 9 points (-0.4%) to 2007.79, closing just below its January closing low of 2008.7. Ugly stuff. The Russell 2000 fell 3 points (-0.5%) to 622, the Dow Transports lost 0.8%, the Dow Utilites dropped 0.2%, and bonds slid lower pushing the 10-year Treasury yield up to 4.51%.
Volume was heavy today, especially on the NYSE with over 2 billion shares traded. Market internals were pretty lousy, with advances/declines running 3 to 5 on the NYSE and 2 to 3 on the Nasdaq, and up/down volume 7 to 9 on the NYSE and 1 to 2 on the Nasdaq. New highs exceeded new lows on the NYSE by 72/58, but trailed new lows by 59/104 on the Nasdaq.
Considering that the indices didn’t move much, it isn’t a big surprise that there wasn’t much movement in the industry groups either. Oil stocks (+1.0%) and oil services (+0.7%) were small gainers, and transports (-1.4%), gold & silver stocks (-1.0%), computer hardware (-1.0%), and semiconductors (-0.9%) led the losers.
Crude oil prices held at high levels, closing the day at $56.72, up $0.32. The dollar index moved higher by 0.3%, and gold prices remained near $439/ounce.
BMB Note: This market remains on shaky ground. At this point, you’re probably best off being defensive, protecting your positions, and keeping your cash in your wallet until opportunities present themselves.