Stock Market Today: Wild Friday Features More Woes for Tech
Big Tech stocks Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) all declined on a wobbly 'quadruple witching' Friday.
Friday was expected to be an active day for stocks, and, on that front, it didn't disappoint.
Today was a "quadruple witching" day, in which index futures, index options, stock options and individual-stock futures all expire at once, which sometimes leads to heavy volume and erratic moves in parts or all of the market. In this case, the major indices flipped from early gains to deep losses, then recovered somewhat before closing in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.9% lower to 27,657.
Friday continued a brutal stretch for tech. The S&P 500's technology sector, as measured by the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK, -1.7%), has declined 9.5% since the start of September. Apple (AAPL, -3.2%) has declined 17% this month, Amazon.com (AMZN, -1.8%) is off 14.4% and Microsoft (MSFT, -1.2%) is off 9.8%.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Other action in the stock market today:
- The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1% to 10,793, putting it down 8.3% for September.
- The S&P 500 also fell 1.1% to 3,319.
- The Russell 2000 was the strongest of the major indices, slipping 0.4% to 1,536.
Too Rocky for Your Tastes? Build a More Diversified Core
As we detailed in our A Step Ahead newsletter today, the tech sector might not be a bubble waiting to pop, but it is a particularly frothy area of a generally expensive market that's still ripe for profit-taking.
"The equity market's recent volatility reflects uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the presidential election and fiscal policy," says Thomas Mantione, managing director, UBS Private Wealth Management. "The acceleration of digital, virtual and e-commerce trends has caused valuations in the tech sector to expand. But as we've seen, the tech sector is not immune from the volatility that could be caused by the lack of fiscal policy response to COVID-19 and uncertainty surrounding the 2020 election."
Given the ubiquity of tech in the major indices, most investors are absorbing the pain, but those with highly diversified portfolios haven't felt the pinch as badly. If you're in need of a broader swath of holdings, it's only a few clicks away.
We've recently shown investors some of the best target-date fund families, which offer products that manage stocks and bonds for you over the course of decades. If you feel like being a little more active, however, exchange-traded funds like those in our Kip ETF 20 can help you achieve almost any goal.
But in some cases, you can get all of the building blocks for a diversified portfolio from a single fund family. Here, we detail five of the best iShares ETFs on offer that you can combine to create a dirt-cheap investing core that covers thousands of stocks and bonds.
Disclaimer
Kyle Woodley was long AMZN and MSFT as of this writing.
7 Best 5G Stocks for the Communication Revolution
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
Super Micro Computer: Why This Hot Stock Could Hit $1,500
Super Micro Computer's long-term AI revenue potential is underappreciated, Loop Capital says. Here's what you need to know.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Instant EV Tax Rebates Are a Hit: $580M Paid This Year
EV Credits Claiming federal electric vehicle tax credits at the point of sale is a new and popular option in 2024.
By Kelley R. Taylor Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Stabilize After Powell's Rate-Cut Warning
The main indexes temporarily tumbled after Fed Chair Powell said interest rates could stay higher for longer.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Reverse Lower as Treasury Yields Spike
A good-news-is-bad-news retail sales report lowered rate-cut expectations and caused government bond yields to surge.
By Karee Venema Last updated
-
Amazon Eyes $2 Trillion Market Cap as CEO Talks AI, Cost Cuts
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy thinks there’s "a long way to go" in all of its businesses and that could be good for investors.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Leads as Magnificent 7 Stocks Rise
Strength in several mega-cap tech and communication services stocks kept the main indexes higher Thursday.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble After a Hot Inflation Print
Equities retreated after inflation data called the Fed's rate-cut plans into question.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks End Mixed Ahead of Key Inflation Reading
Equities struggled before tomorrow's big Consumer Price Index report.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Closed Mixed in Choppy Trading
Volatility returned as market participants adjusted their expectations for rate cuts.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
How To Invest Your Tax Return
When thinking about how to invest your tax return, prioritize your financial health over aggressive – and risky – ideas like bitcoin.
By Jeff Reeves Published