Tech and finance lead sell-off as traders brace themselves for Nvidia earnings and the September jobs report
While speculative assets were hardest hit, all sector ETFs were trading lower except utilities.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 all fell sharply on Monday as a sell-off in tech, finance, and energy drove stocks lower, but the losses were broad, with every sector ETF in the red except for utilities.
Speculative assets and parts of the stock market linked to riskier pockets of the economy tumbled. Bitcoin dipped below $93,000 as this month is shaping up to be “Painvember” and the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index dropped to 14, indicating “extreme fear.”
Traders are bracing themselves for Wednesday’s Nvidia earnings, which will offer key insights into the viability of the AI trade, and the September jobs report, which will be released on Thursday.
Stocks that moved higher:
Alphabet popped thanks to a double dose of news after the close on Friday: the firm announced plans to bolster its data center footprint and got a long overdue seal of approval from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Quantum Computing rose after the company jumped back into profitability in its third-quarter earnings. Perhaps most important, however, was the CEO’s announcement of the plans to use the $1.5 billion raised this year to transition from prototype and small-batch production toward volume production “by the end of this decade.”
Stocks that moved lower:
Lucid fell to a fresh all-time low following a price target cut by Stifel to $17 from $21.
Dell dove after a double downgrade from Morgan Stanley analysts, who axed the shares from “overweight” to “underweight,” bypassing “neutral.”
Peter Thiel’s hedge fund joined SoftBank in dumping its entire position in Nvidia. (The filing also showed that Thiel Macro cut its stake in Tesla by 76%.)
Late Friday, the Financial Times reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook, a 65-year-old who’s led the company for nearly 15 years, could be stepping down as early as next year.
CarMax and Hertz fell on news that Ford is partnering with Amazon to sell its used vehicles online.
