Today was yet another day of continuous selling on the street as the markets took a hard fall. All the major indices began the day in the red and worsened as the day went along. The Dow finished lower by 218 points. The Nasdaq closed down by 44 points. The broader S&P 500 lost 25 points, or 1.75% on the day.
More concerns in the banking industry were at the heart of the losses once again today. JP Morgan Chase and Company (NYSE:JPM) fell by 3.99% today on rather heavy volume as all of the major banks lost significant ground. Even Wells Fargo and Company (NYSE:WFC) which has fared relatively well compared to most banks hit a new 52 week low today after falling almost 2%. Merrill Lynch and Company (NYSE:MER) fell by 3.99% to lead the brokerage group lower. Even the NYSE itself was swept up in the selling today as NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) lost 5.26%.
The basic material sector was under tremendous pressure today as it has been in several times of late. High flying chemical stocks were brought back to earth today. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) plunged 6.76% on the day and CF Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) shed 7.88% of its value today alone. All the metal stocks were very weak today. Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:PCU) lost 7.3% on the day. Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) fell by 5.12% in today's trading.
Consumer cyclical names performed very poorly today as well as the recession fears grew on wall street. Retailers were very weak, with many of them hitting new yearly lows today. Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq:SHLD) plunged 5.6% to hit a new 52 week low. Macy's (NYSE:M) and J.C. Penney Company (NYSE:JCP) both hit new lows today as well, losing 3.6% and 4.42% respectively. Casino and gaming stocks were also among the major losers today. Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE:LVS) lost 6.96% and Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq:WYNN) lost 7.08% on the day.
The volume on the exchanges was rather light compared to recent sessions, especially on the Nasdaq. The Nasdaq traded about 2.2 billion shares, much less than most days recently. The NYSE traded around 1.67 billion shares, a little less than average of late. The lower volumes can likely be attributed to this being a holiday week and some traders already being away for the holiday. It is likely that most of the week will run below average on the volume.
The breadth of the market was terrible today as about 80% of stocks on both the Nasdaq and NYSE declined today. The new lows outpaced the new highs a staggering 545 to 37 on the NYSE and 362 to 50 on the Nasdaq.
The weakness of the market right now is quite amazing. I myself have expected this weakness for the most part, but the fact that there are almost no rallies following huge down days is pretty convincing of the stranglehold the bears have on the markets right now.
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