NASDAQ, S&P 500, Dow Jones Analysis – Stocks Retreat Amid Profit-Taking

Key Insights

• S&P 500 declined amid a strong pullback in tech and energy stocks. 
• The tech-heavy NASDAQ was the biggest loser among major indices today. 
• Dow Jones’ performance was impacted by the sell-off in Johnson & Johnson shares.

S&P 500

S&P 500 retreats as traders take some profits off the table ahead of the Fed meeting.

Today, traders focused on Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index report, which exceeded analyst expectations but did not provide any support to stocks.

Today’s pullback is broad, and all market segments are moving lower. Consumer Defensive and Utilities stocks outperform as traders search for safe-haven assets.

The sell-off is led by tech stocks. These stocks showed strong performance in recent trading sessions so it’s not surprising to see that traders want to take some money off the table ahead of the Fed decision, which will be released on Wednesday.

From the technical point of view, S&P 500 failed to settle above the important resistance level at 4100. Most likely, S&P 500 will not be able to get above the key resistance ahead of the Fed decision.

NASDAQ

NASDAQ is under strong pressure today as tech stocks retreat. NVIDIA, which had a great start of the year, is down by 4.5% in today’s trading session.

Other big tech stocks like Microsoft and Meta are also losing ground as traders take profits after the recent moves.

Dow Jones

Dow Jones is also moving lower today. The pullback is led by Johnson & Johnson stock, which is down by more than 3% as the court ruled that the company could not use the bankruptcy of its unit to resolve talc lawsuits.

Meanwhile, Chevron is down by 2.4% as traders continue to take profits near all-time highs and react to the pullback in the oil markets.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.