US Markets
Big tech wobbles, small caps slip, and volatility keeps cooling
The major U.S. indexes finish lower, with tech and small caps doing the most damage.
U.S. stocks end the session lower across the board, though the moves stay fairly contained in the large caps. The S&P 500 falls 0.3% to 7,711.76, the Nasdaq Comp. loses 0.5% to 26,402.42, and the Dow Jones slips 0.0% to 53,560.00. The Russell 2000 takes the hardest hit, down 1.4% to 2,972.37.
The tape looks softer in growth and smaller companies than in the mega-cap-heavy averages. Tech falls 1.6%, Industrials drop 0.9%, and Utilities lose 1.0%. Offsetting that, Comm Svcs rises 1.4%, Discretionary gains 1.2%, and Energy adds 0.6%. The mix leaves the market without a clean leadership group by the close.
One notable calm spot is volatility. The VIX drops 0.6% to 14.43, while the VIX 9-day plunges 33.4% to 11.22. The VIX 3-month and 6-month gauges also finish lower, at 17.48 and 20.3, respectively. The options market shows a slight put tilt in both SPY and QQQ, with put-call ratios of 1.06 and 1.3.
The intraday S&P 500 path is choppy but not dramatic. It starts near 7,739, pushes up to the mid-7,700s, then spends most of the afternoon grinding lower toward 7,711.76. The index stays above its 50-day moving average of 7,563.79 and its 200-day moving average of 7,118.72.