US Stocks end mostly higher; S&P 500 snaps 5-day losing streak
US Stocks ended mostly higher Tuesday, with the S&P 500 Index ending a five-day losing streak in a choppy, rangebound session as a stronger-than-expected reading on consumer confidence and rising house prices pointed to a stronger U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.12% closed up 2.32 points, or 0.1%, at 1,884.09, after trading within a 28-point range. The index shed 4.3% over the course of its five-session losing streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.30% closed up 47.24 points, or 0.3%, at 16,049.13, while trading within a 177-point range. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.59% on the other hand, extended its losing streak to six days, shedding 26.65 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 4,517.32, after trading within a 109-point range.
A September rise in a consumer-confidence gauge surprised forecasters but didn’t appear to carry much heft in bolstering investor confidence.
People aren’t happy with stocks, and the marked decline in the market over the past several days is reinforcing this narrative, said Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at BTIG.
“The environment is dominated by the macro right now: China, Brazil, last week’s payroll numbers, the Fed, even drug pricing stories are hitting that sector,” Greenhaus said. “There not much from a fundamental perspective that people can latch onto until earnings season.”
As stocks have crept lower, they threaten to hit recent technical lows, and that too, has investors concerned. Back on Aug. 25, the S&P 500 closed at just under 1,868, and many investors are looking for that technical level to be tested.
Exchange-traded funds are also ending the quarter on a sour note with the average ETF down 7.5% for the quarter.
Over the year, investors have moved less and less into equity ETFs in favor of fixed-income ETFs, and over the past week flows into equity ETFs went negative by $7.7 billion, noted Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at Convergex.
“As for market ‘tells’ from ETF-land, investors are clearly shading their bets towards more equity market volatility and no Fed rate hike this year,” Colas said in a note.
The benchmarks sought to reclaim some of the ground lost from sharp losses on Monday, when U.S. stocks ended at their lowest levels since late August. Stock indexes on both sides of the Atlantic were slammed that day by fresh concerns over China’s slowing growth, after a lackluster reading on industrial profits.
The downbeat mood carried into Asian trade on Tuesday, as Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +2.42% turned negative for the year.
Data: Markets sold off sharply after the Federal Reserve held rates steady at its September meeting, so investors are now looking for clues as to whether the U.S. economy is strong enough for higher rates in October or December—the next two policy-setting meetings.
Source: MarketWatch
