Market Tumbles as Institutions Take Profits

On Thursday, the market tumbled off the open and continued the decline until 2:00 pm EST. It regained some ground in the afternoon, but by the close, the Nasdaq had lost -24 points (-0.57%) while the S&P fell -16 points (-0.89%). The Dow finished the day with a loss of -175 points (-1.07%)

Volume was higher than Wednesday and also above average. Market breath was weak throughout the day and closed at -1,060. Decliners beat advancers by a 2 to 1 ratio, but down volume was much stronger with a 3.4 to 1 advantage over the up volume. This was a broad market sell off.

Some in the media credit the decline to economic reports out of China. There may be some truth to that, since Chinese stocks were some of the biggest decliners. Others sources said the jobs report and stock earnings were the culprit. There is no way to know what rocked the market today, but clearly, the institutions were taking profits. 

Earnings season is likely to create continued volatility going forward. The S&P, Nasdaq, and Dow are all above their respective daily 50 EMAs. That is the line of institutional support.