Markets
Luke Kawa

In nearly 30 years, the S&P 500 hasn’t had a day like this


The S&P 500 had its worst session since the end of April, falling 0.9% as the Magnificent Seven proved a misnomer — at least for today.

A soft US CPI inflation print catalyzed a violent rotation out of what had been working this year into what has been lagging, with interest-rate sensitive sectors also performing well.

This was a day for the record books.

Breadth within the S&P 500 was exceptional: nearly 400 stocks rose. The S&P 500 has never suffered a loss this large with that many stocks moving higher versus lower in data going back to October 1996.

The Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks had its best day since November, up 3.5%, while the Bloomberg Magnificent Seven Index of tech titans fell 4.2%, its worst day since October 2022. The performance gap between the two was the largest going back to at least April 2015.

Lower-than-expected inflation fueled a rally in bonds, helping make real estate the best-performing S&P sector ETF. Its 2.7% gain was the biggest for the sector all year. Utilities, another rate-sensitive pocket of the market, gained 1.8%.

The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF did even better, up a whopping 5.9% in its best day since October 2022.

The tech sector ETF was trounced, down 2.5%, with communication services and consumer discretionary also off more than 1%. Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta all fell more than 2%.

There were also some earnings stories that weighed on the market as well. In particular, Delta fell 4% after reporting quarterly results that disappointed and stirred fears of industry-wide overcapacity even amid high travel.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

markets

Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.