The stock market pared losses Friday but still ended with the worst week since March. Many leading stocks continued to take damaging blows.
XThe Nasdaq composite fell 1.2% in the stock market today but was down as much as 2%. The composite closed below the 50-day moving average for the second day in a row, capping its worst week since a 6.5% drop in the week ended March 23. The Nasdaq 100-tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which held above the 50-day average in Thursday's market rout, lost 1.2% and closed below the line Friday.
On the S&P 500, the chart was better as the index closed above the 50-day line after a brief dip below it. The index fell 0.6% and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.7% as both trimmed losses.
Small caps were down with the general market, taking the Russell 2000 down 0.8%.
Volume fell from Thursday's heavy pace, according to preliminary data. Declining stocks led advancers by about a 2-1 ratio on the NYSE and Nasdaq.
Leading Stocks Again Pounded
Leading stocks continued to face harsh selling. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) fell 1.4%, nearly touching its 200-day moving average for the first time since July 31. The ETF found support back then and started to rebound. Shares tumbled 6.8% for the week, the worst since February 2016.
Alarm.com (ALRM) fell sharply below its 50-day line in heavy volume. The stock fell more than 8% below the 69.15 buy point of a three-weeks-tight pattern, triggering a sell signal. Gains from the 49.59 buy point were erased until shares trimmed losses. Bloomberg reported that Alarm.com was added to a research firm's best-stocks-to-short list.
Control4 (CTRL), Illumina (ILMN), Old Dominion Freight Lines (ODFL) and Planet Fitness (PLNT) were some of the IBD 50 stocks that fell below the important 50-day moving average. Old Dominion fell more than 8% below the 164.20 entry of a Sept. 6 breakout, causing a sell signal.
Nvidia (NVDA) is another tech leader under pressure. Shares sank back to the 50-day line, erasing gains from a rebound late last week. The stock, however, remains near the 269.30 buy point of its most recent breakout.
Other major tech and retail leaders experiencing troubling signs included Amazon.com (AMZN) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Both closed below the 50-day moving average.
Auto, semiconductor and transportation industry groups were some of the weakest Friday. Defensive industry groups were higher. Tobacco, utilities, soaps, and some food industry groups climbed 1% or more.
The SPDR Utility ETF (XLU) rose about 2% for the week, extending a rebound that started last week, when shares hit the 200-day moving average.
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