Considering the upward trend of the S&P 500 in just the last eight days, MoneyShow’s Jim Jubak takes today's slight profit taking on very low volume as a sign of the strength of the market's upward trend as we move into 2015.
A tiny bit of profit taking today on very light volume.
Which, considering that the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (SPX) was up about 6% over just the last eight trading days, I’d take as a sign of the strength of the market’s upward trend as we move into 2015. The S&P 500 closed off just 10.22 points or 0.49%.
The sectors leading the market lower are exactly those cyclical sectors that have moved up most strongly on the strength of US economic growth, including the revision of third quarter GDP growth to an annualized 5% rate.
Energy shares were down with the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) off 0.81%. Other sectors lagging the index include biotech (IBB), autos (CARZ), industrials (XLI), and consumer discretionary (XLY). Chevron (CVX) and General Electric (GE) have led the energy and industrial sectors lower, and since both are members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, they’ve put downward pressure on that index too. The Dow closed lower by 0.31%.
As of 1:00 PM New York time, trading in shares of S&P 500 companies was 43% below the 30-day average for this time of day. For the day, floor volume on the New York Stock Exchange was a low 525 million shares. Certainly there’s no sign that any sizeable group of traders think they need to do anything today ahead of the New Year’s holiday. The New York Stock Exchange is closed on January 1.
