Sign in Subscribe
Software industry

Stock Market Rally Fades as Traders Take Profits on Trendless Market

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Stock traders showed little to no reaction to the Federal Reserve Board's likely decision to hold off interest rate hikes, sending bond prices higher. However, as the afternoon progressed, traders began to take profits, causing shares to sell off. The major indexes closed mixed, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 3.70 points, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index falling 1.25 points. Over-the-counter stocks like Microsoft and US Health Care remained steady, while blue-chip companies like Chevron and General Motors fell.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Federal Reserve Board's decision to hold off interest rate hikes sent bond prices higher, but traders took profits as the afternoon progressed, causing shares to sell off.
  • The major indexes closed mixed, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 3.70 points, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index falling 1.25 points.
  • Over-the-counter stocks like Microsoft and US Health Care remained steady, while blue-chip companies like Chevron and General Motors fell.
  • The selling was accelerated late in the day as some computer-guided trading kicked in, causing the Dow Jones industrial average to fall nearly 22 points and the Standard & Poor's 500 to fall nearly 3 points.
  • The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.17 point, to 254.17, with advancing stocks outnumbering declining stocks 1,320 to 864.
  • The American Stock Exchange market value index rose 0.75 point, to 442.59.
  • Of the 30 component stocks that make up the Dow industrials, 17 fell, led by Chevron, which fell 1 point, to 87 3/4.
  • Of the 500 component stocks that make up the S.& P. 500, 220 fell, led by Pepsico, which fell 1 3/8, to 34 5/8.

Statistics:

  • Trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 259.1 million shares, some 14 percent below this year's average of 300 million shares.
  • The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.70 points, to 3,768.52.
  • The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.25 points, to 458.88.
  • The Nasdaq composite index kept some gains, closing up 1.05 points, to 743.43.
  • The Commodity Research Bureau index fell 3.21 points, to 228.84, one of the steepest drops this year.
  • The price of futures contracts for soybeans and related products fell due to abundant rain in the Midwest over the weekend.

Sources:

  • The New York Times
  • The Wall Street Journal
  • Bloomberg
  • Federal Reserve Board
  • New York Stock Exchange
  • American Stock Exchange

Read more