Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market continued its selloff today with each of the major indices closing below their respective 50-day moving averages. The market opened flat before downside momentum picked up steam around midmorning. The major indices were stuck in a narrow trading range throughout the afternoon with the S&P 500 closing below the 4,000 level.
The selling effort was indiscriminate, leaving many stocks with losses. The S&P 500, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK), and the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) all closed with a 1.1% loss.
Growth and value stocks both suffered notable losses with the Russell 3000 Growth Index closing down 1.1% while the Russell 3000 Value Index closed down 1.2%.
Market breadth reflected the selling bias today. Decliners led advancers by a nearly 4-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.
Every S&P 500 sector closed in the red with losses ranging from 0.4% (financials) to 3.4% (energy).
The energy sector was in last place, by a wide margin, while energy complex futures sold off. WTI crude oil futures fell 5.5% to $91.60/bbl. Natural gas futures fell 2.6% to $9.06/mmbtu. Unleaded gasoline futures fell 7.0% to $2.53/gal. This comes after Bloomberg reported that the EU is set to meet its gas storage filling goal two months ahead of target. Also, European Commission President von der Leyen said that an emergency intervention is being planned to rein in energy prices.
On an individual basis, Big Lots (BIG 24.08, +2.53, +11.7%) made a big upside move on favorable quarterly results while Best Buy (BBY 74.89, +1.19, +1.6%) also had a sizable earnings-driven gain.
The 2-yr Treasury note yield rose four basis points to 3.46% while the 10-yr Treasury note yield was unchanged at 3.11%.
Ahead of Wednesday's open, Brown-Forman (BF.B) reports quarterly results.
Wednesday's economic data includes the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index (prior -1.2%) at 7:00 a.m. ET, August ADP Employment Change (Briefing.com consensus 315,000) at 8:15 a.m. ET, August Chicago PMI (Briefing.com consensus 53.1; prior 52.1) at 9:45 a.m. ET, and weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories (prior -3.28 million) at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Reviewing overnight developments:
- The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 103.2 in August (consensus 97.4) from a downwardly revised 95.3 (from 95.7) in July. This was the first increase in the index in four months. In the same period a year ago, the Consumer Confidence Index stood at 115.2.
- The key takeaway from the report is that even with the August improvement in confidence, the Expectations Index remains below 80.0, which suggests the continued presence of an elevated risk of recession.
- July JOLTS Job Openings totaled 11.239 million after the prior revised total of 11.04 million (from 10.698).
- June FHFA Housing Price Index rose 0.1% after the prior revised 1.3% increase (from 1.4%).
- June S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose 18.6% (consensus 19.0%) following a prior 20.5% increase.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -12.5% YTD
S&P 400: -13.9% YTD
S&P 500: -16.4% YTD
Russell 2000: -17.4% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: -24.1% YTD