Stocks sank on Thursday in the final session of September and the third quarter, with stocks extending a weeks-long streak of volatility as concerns over inflation, the economic backdrop and debates in Washington over a host of measures weighed on equities.
The S&P 500 ended the day lower by 1.2%. The index fell by more than 4.5% in September for its first monthly decline since January, with concerns around fiscal and monetary policy, inflation, regulations in China and the ongoing pandemic all colliding to knock equities from their upward trajectory. Still, the S&P 500 remained up by about 15% for the year-to-date through Thursday's close.
Cyclical stocks, though down during Thursday's session, led the way higher in September as investors bet on higher inflation and rising rates. A jump in crude oil prices helped make the energy sector by far the best performer in the S&P 500. Financial stocks also outperformed, with rising Treasury yields serving as a tailwind to bank profitability.
The Nasdaq has underperformed over the past month as traders rotated away from the growth and technology stocks that pulled the market higher last year. High-flying technology stocks also got hit as Treasury yields jumped over the past week, with the rising borrowing costs weighing on the valuations of growth companies that rely heavily on expectations of strong future earnings.
“This feels a lot worse than it actually is because we haven’t had much volatility since last October, last September,” Paul Schatz, Heritage Capital President, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday.
Concerns about inflation and supply chain issues continued to hamper the markets on Thursday.Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond fell 22.1%after the company said those issues hurt the company’s second-quarter results, and the news appeared to hit fellow retail stocks. Walgreens Boots Alliance and Home Depot fell 3.4% and nearly 2.6%, respectively, making them two of the worst performers in the Dow.
Energy and financial stocks, which have been some of the best performers in recent weeks, took a step back on Thursday. Shares of Goldman Sachs were 1.7% lower, while JPMorgan was down 1.3%.
Tech stocks outperformed on Thursday, but the Nasdaq still suffered its fifth-straight losing session. Tech names have been hit by the recent jump in the 10-year Treasury yield, which broke above 1.567% earlier in the week. The measure retreated slightly on Thursday.
Rising yields, fueled by concerns over inflation and the Federal Reserve’s signals that it will soon begin winding down its pandemic-era asset purchases, are seen as a negative for tech stocks because they make far-off future profits look less attractive to investors.
“We’ve been talking about spooky season — September and October — and the expectation of about a 5% dip from the high. … But we’ve said we don’t expect a correction,” said David Bianco of DWS Group. A correction is typically defined as a pullback of more than 10% from a recent high.
“We expect yields to climb, and that’s why we’re overweight banks, but we don’t expect yields to surge. And without a surge in yields, we can live with these [valuations],” Bianco added.
Shares of Apple and Amazon finished the day in negative territory after moving higher in morning trading. Chip giant Nvidia and Netflix managed to hold on to their gains but closed well off session highs.
“We wouldn’t get caught up in any end-of-quarter machinations today and continue to advise fading rallies (especially in tech) as the coming weeks will stay rocky,” wrote Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge.
September’s losses led to a weak third quarter for the market. For the 3-month period, the Dow dropped 1.9%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4%. The S&P 500 held on to a modest gain and is still up nearly 15% on the year.
October has a reputation for some violent sell-offs but overall is typically the start of better seasonal performance for stocks. The S&P 500 averages a 0.8% gain for the month, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
Investors were also keeping an eye on Washington as Congresspassed a bill that would fund the government through early December. The bill would avert a government shutdown but Congress still has not raised the debt ceiling, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says will be reached on Oct. 18.
Yellen and Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. Yellen reiterated her call for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, saying that failure to do so would be “catastrophic.”
On the data front,initial jobless claimsfor the prior week came in at 362,000. Economists were expecting a print of 335,000, according to Dow Jones. The October jobs report, which is seen as a key indicator for the Federal Reserve’s next steps, will be released on Oct. 8.
Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:09 p.m. ET:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): -51.92 (-1.19%) to 4,307.54
Dow (^DJI): -546.80 (-1.59%) to 33,843.92
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -63.86 (-0.44%) to 14,448.58
Crude (CL=F): +$0.11 (+0.15%) to $74.94 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$33.70 (+1.96%) to $1,756.60 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -1.2 bps to yield 1.5290%
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