The S&P 500 registered its biggest one-day drop in three months, and the Nasdaq Composite ended a nine-day winning streak, after an afternoon sell-off that delayed Wall Street’s attempt at a record high.
The S&P 500 closed 1.5 per cent lower for its biggest fall since September 21, while the Nasdaq sank by the same amount.
Big Tech stocks, which have an outsized influence on index direction, led the market turnaround, which ultimately left about 96 per cent of S&P 500 members lower at the closing bell, according to LSEG data.
“The market was ripe for a day like today,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “The S&P has been up seven weeks in a row . . . It had reached a very overbought condition and it had also become quite expensive.”
Andy Brenner, a managing director at NatAlliance Securities, said he thought the afternoon sell-off looked like “profit-taking.”
