Day Traders Diary

8/31/21

The major averages fell into the red to end the month of August as the S&P 500 wrapped up its seventh-straight month of gains at just below all-time highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 39 points, or about 0.1%. The S&P 500 lost 6 points or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 6 points or 0.1%.

Tuesday marks the last trading day of August, and major averages are poised to post solid gains for the period. The S&P 500 is up 3% this month, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has climbed 4%, on pace to post its third winning month in a row. The blue-chip Dow is up a more modest 1.3%.

For the S&P 500, it will be its longest winning streak since a 10-month run ending in December 2017. This is also the benchmark's 9th positive month in the last 10. The index notched its 53rd record close of 2021 on Monday.

The strong run for the S&P 500 has come even as the delta variant of Covid-19 has raised concerns about the path for the economic recovery. On Tuesday, Google-parent Alphabet pushed back its voluntary return to office to January from mid-October.

The S&P 500 was split roughly even between rising and falling stocks on Tuesday. Apparel company Nike was one of the biggest losers in the Dow, falling nearly 2%. Materials stocks including Nucor and chemic company Dow also struggled.

Zoom shares fell about 16% on Tuesday after the video-conferencing software company showed slowing revenue growth in the second quarter, weighting on the Nasdaq. Shares of Apple also declined, but Amazon's stock rose 1% to help offset those losses for the broader markets.

Shares of Wells Fargo fell more than 5% in afternoon trading after Bloomberg News reported that the bank could face further sanctions as regulators are upset about the pace of progress in compensating victims of Wells Fargo's previous scandals. Wells Fargo declined to comment to CNBC.