Friday’s after-hours trading action, where the S&P 500 index slumped another 13 handles from its closing price (4421.75), was a good indication for much of Monday’s session. In fact, the index never reached Friday’s close, with the premarket high being only 4418 and the intraday high (4371.25), which was 30 handles below Friday’s after-hours low (4406.50).
Blame China and its weak economic data coupled with the eventual collapse of its largest real estate firm (Evergrande Realty). But the truth be told, the markets were long overdue for a day like Monday. Factor in the post quadruple witch expiration malaise, along with an unstable global outlook, and the outcome is not all that surprising.
What will puzzle investors, both bulls and bears, is the stealth 40 plus handle rally off the low of the day (4293.75), While that low is just under its July 21 low (4300.75), it is still quite some distance from the prior day low to that (4243.50). While the index was able to settle well off the lows of the day, it is still hard to determine if the “buy the dip” moment has arrived, again.
From a regular day session open to close, the damage was not severe at all (4354.25 vs. 4346.50), the actual net loss off the mark is substantial being 74.25 handles lower at 4347.50. Interestingly, that was only seven handles lower than the day session opening print (4354.25).
There were no winners in the top components of the index. The smallest loser was Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), which declined $0.94 or 0.56% to close at $163.81. That was much less than the cash index decline of $1.70.
Leading the tech wreck of the top components was Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) which swooned $29.32 or 3.92% to close at $730.17.
PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI)
Lower production equals lower share price. Read more on LI here.
