Naive Trader

Investors rushed to safety in big tech today after payroll growth data came in much lower than expected. The result was losses across most sectors and indexes, but enough gains in tech mega-caps for the Nasdaq to end the day higher.

Jobs data in the morning improved the economic outlook even while the pandemic remains relentless. Cyclical and defensive sectors outperformed while growth sectors declined for the day.

Markets rallied in the morning before investors turned defensive and the gains faded, weighed down by big tech stocks that all sold off in the later afternoon. Regardless, most of the market held onto some gain for the day.

Markets closed the month of August moving sideways, but capped another bullish month of gains. The day started with investors swarming defensive sectors, but sentiment flipped, and the sector list scrambled.

Technology stocks rallied today after the Fed expressed a dovish stance toward tapering and interest rate hikes on Friday. Cyclical sectors faded while growth sectors dominated the top of the sector list.

A dovish stance from the Fed’s Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium sent stocks higher today. Gains were broadly shared across the market, with small caps leading the way. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs.

Indexes moved lower for the first time in several days as investors became defensive after slightly higher than expected jobless claims data.