Day Traders Diary

5/9/22

The major averages fell sharply Monday, pushing the S&P 500 to breach the 4,000 level for the first time in more than a year as the market sell-off continued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 653 points to 32,245, or 1.99%. The S&P 500 fell 3.2% or 132 points to settle at 3,991.24 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 521 points or 4.29% to 11,623.

The S&P 500 traded as low as 3,975.48 on the day, dipping below the 4,000 mark to its lowest level since March 2021 and pulling back 17% from a 52-week high as traders struggled to bounce back from last week's big market swings. All sectors except for consumer staples dipped into the red

Amid the losses, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield hit its highest level since late 2018, trading well above 3%.

Rising rates continued to crush technology names such as Meta Platforms and Alphabet, which fell more than 3.7% and 2.7%, respectively. Amazon, Apple and Netflix all fell more than 5%, 3% and 4%, respectively, while Tesla and Nvidia plunged more than 9%.

The combination of high rates and a potential recession as inflation surges also hit other areas of the market. Consumer stocks like Nike suffered along with industrials such as Caterpillar. Bank stocks also came under pressure with Bank of America falling more than 3%.

Boeing marked the biggest loser in the Dow, plunging more than 10% followed by energy bellwether Chevron which slipped 6.7% as U.S. oil futures continued to slide. 3M, Walmart, Amgen and Home Depot remained bright spots in the market, posting gains despite the broader sell-off.

Chart analysts are also seeing signs of a prolonged market downturn emerge.

On the earnings front, Palantir cratered 21.3% on weak revenue guidance and BioNTech gained more than 3% following a strong quarter. First-quarter earnings season is slowing down, but there are several notable reports including Walt Disney and Occidental Petroleum slated for later in the week.

In other corporate news, Rivian shares plunged nearly 15% after CNBC's David Faber reported on Saturday that Ford is looking to sell 8 million shares in the electric vehicle maker.

Monday's moves came as Wall Street finished an erratic week of eye-popping day-to-day swings as investors weighed the prospects of rising interest rates against the potential of slower economic growth.

The moves followed remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, indicating the central bank was not considering a 75-basis-point rate hike at upcoming meetings. Stocks rallied and rates slipped following the comments before reversing course on Thursday.