The stock market bounced from session lows to close mixed Thursday, but the high-flying software sector suffered a forgettable day.
XSoftware — IBD's top sector with a year-to-date gain of nearly 28% before Thursday's slide — saw a number of its best stocks fall sharply.
Sector Leaders Atlassian (TEAM) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) fell 4.5% and 2%, respectively, but both held above their 50-day moving averages. Palo Alto continues to work on a flat base. ServiceNow (NOW), down 4%, also arrested its drop at the 50-day line.
A few others weren't so lucky. Zscaler (ZS) plummeted nearly 9%, the biggest drop since Nov. 19. The stock was removed from IBD Leaderboard.
IShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) lost 1.9% but held above its latest entry at 206.76. Indeed, most software leaders held above key support levels.
The sector's rout was the main reason the technology-tilted Nasdaq composite lagged, closing less than 0.1% lower. It had been down as much as 0.6%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%. The Russell 2000 rose 0.4% at the closing bell. Volume fell from Wednesday's totals, according to unconfirmed data.
Retail, Materials, Consumer Sector Lead Stock Market
Retail, materials, consumer discretionary, energy and financials were the top-performing sectors. Automakers were the day's worst industry group, and that was due to Tesla (TSLA). Shares gapped down, dropping 8% in heavy volume.
The electric-car manufacturer posted lower-than-expected deliveries in Q1 and warned that net income would be "negatively impacted." Also Thursday, CEO Elon Musk appeared in federal court after the SEC accused him of violating the terms of an agreement.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) lost 0.9%. Eight of the 50 stocks are software companies, and all closed lower. China-based Baozun (BZUN) was at the bottom of the pile, down 7.2% and right back below its 200-day moving average.
March payroll data is being released Friday before the market opens. The report — one of the most widely watched on Wall Street — is expected to show 170,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 3.8%.
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