X U.S. stock indexes were mixed Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average down the most and small caps up the most.
The Nasdaq rose 0.2%, and the S&P 500 lost 0.2%. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6%, as IBM's (IBM) 5% loss pulled down the Dow. The small-cap Russell 2000 advanced 0.3%.
Volume was up, according to preliminary data. Turnover was about 10% faster on the Nasdaq and about 1% faster on the NYSE. Trade has been mostly below average in recent weeks.
Blue chips were mostly down, even apart from IBM, which is now 11% off its high. The Dow industrial average component with the best gain was Intel (INTC), up moderately in soft trade. Intel is consolidating mostly under its 10-week moving average line, which is a negative. Intel is 6% off its high.
The pressure the uptrend is encountering has hit some stocks hard. The selling has been especially tough for three of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) stocks. The S&P 500 has slipped 2% off its high. But some of the concentrated Berkshire holdings have lost much more: Wells Fargo (WFC) is 13% off its high. IBM is 11% off its high. American Express (AXP) is 7% off its high.
Those three stocks alone account for about 34% of Berkshire Hathaway's assets.
The so-called Trump trade also has struggled. Cement stocks and money centers have pulled about 11% and 9% respectively off their highs.
Money Centers Can't Handle Good News
Yet, one money-center stock was doing well initially Wednesday. Morgan Stanley (MS) gapped up 4.2% in strong volume but then reversed to trim the gain to 2%. The company beat the Street's estimate on earnings. Analysts expected earnings to rise 60% to 88 cents a share vs. the year-ago quarter. But results showed an 82% earnings pop to $1 a share.
Money centers that have reported have generally had good quarters. Of the 11 stocks trading above 15 and that have reported Q1 results, 10 topped the Street's consensus estimate and only one missed. But the reaction to the beats has been subdued.
The market doesn't appear to be in a generous mood.
The S&P 500 lost its March 14 distribution day because of time. Distribution involves a sizable loss in a major index in rising volume. The action points to institutional selling.
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