Daily Wrap-up - A 104-Point Loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average

2/8/2010 4:34 PM

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Despite a mid-morning rebound back to breakeven, the day ends with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down 104 points. The S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) each lost just under 1% while the Russell 2000 (RUT) was slightly weaker. The intraday chart below shows the afternoon slide and the close near the lows of the day.

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Reuters

Index	Index Value	Point Change	Percent Change
S&P 500 (SPX)	1056.7	-9.5 points	-0.89 percent
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)	9908.4	-103.8 points	-1.04 percent
Nasdaq Composite (COMP)	2126.1	-15.1 points	-0.70 percent
Russell 2000 (RUT)	586.5	-6.5 points	-1.09 percent
CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX)	26.51	0.40 points	1.5 percent

The mild upside bias we saw in the sector action earlier evaporated at the close. The SPDR Homebuilders (XHB) and iShares Treasury Bond (TLT) led while the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI), Regional Bank HOLDRS (RKH), and PowerShares Clean Energy ETF (PBW) lagged.

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My midday post noted I was keeping a cautious eye on how the indexes traded near their recent lows. The daily charts below tell the story. The SPX, DJIA, and COMP show a rejection at resistance while the RUT didn't even rebound to resistance.

Charts Courtesy of Thomson Reuters

Before Friday's reversal the Dow was down 167 points at its worst levels of the session. Today's drop of 104 points erases more than half of Friday's rebound. The "bright" spot is that the indexes are still holding above Friday's intraday low. That is the near-term level I will be watching this week and is where I will pick up in the morning. Have a nice evening.

-posted by Nick Perry
2/8/2010 4:34 PM