There were few places to hide as the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke key support and dived as much as 599 points in the stock market today. But it closed off session lows during a rout fueled by weak jobs data.
XAfter paring some earlier losses, the Dow Jones industrials sank nearly 1.9%, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8% and the Nasdaq shed 1.6%. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000, down 0.9%, fared a little better. Volume swelled on the NYSE and Nasdaq vs. Tuesday, according to early numbers.
ADP payrolls last month slowed to a net gain of 135,000 jobs, down from 157,000 in August. The gain also missed the Econoday projection for 152,000 net jobs added. That followed Tuesday's disappointing ISM manufacturing data, which fell to a 10-year low and showed contraction for a second straight month.
The Dow Jones index gapped down below its 50-day moving average for the first time in nearly a month — and got to within 1% of testing the 200-day. For the week thus far, the blue chip index has lost 741 points. The S&P 500 gave up its 50-day line Tuesday; the Nasdaq did so last week.
Among blue chips, Chevron (CVX), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and American Express (AXP) shed more than 3% apiece in the broad sell-off.
Chevron skidded to an eight-month low, while American Express breached its 200-day line for the first time since late January. Light sweet crude oil prices slid 1.9% to $52.61 a barrel. Exxon Mobil (XOM) tumbled 2.6%, though in lower volume than usual.
Apple (AAPL) fell 2.5% but continued to hold near a 221.47 buy point. Volume was around 18% higher than normal. The stock is 5% off its 52-week high and has been stuck in a trading range between about 217 and 225 the past three weeks.
One Dow Jones Winner
Only one Dow Jones industrials stock avoided the rout. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) held onto a 1.6% gain after paring a big early gap-up move. Shares had rallied nearly 4% after the pharma giant settled an opioid trial in Ohio for $10 million — $20 million including legal fees and a charitable donation. The stock is working on a flat base with a 145.08 buy point.
Retail, airlines and software stocks led the sell-off among the 197 industry groups tracked by IBD. The only two groups with a 1% or bigger gain were long-term medical care and gold miners.
VanEck Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) and VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) rose 1.8% each. Gold prices were up 1.1% to $1,505 an ounce. In a telling move, gold miners are now the top industry group, up from No. 5 three weeks ago. Gold tends to do well when the stock market doesn't.
In the IBD 50, Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) gained 3.4% to retake its 50-day line. It's well extended from a 36.84 buy point of a prior breakout, but is now in the fifth week of a new potential base. The gold miner was the only IBD 50 stock up more than 1 point. Boot Barn Holdings (BOOT) found support at its 50-day line to edge 0.4, or 1.1%, higher.
PagSeguro Digital (PAGS), down 5.6%, was the biggest loser in the IBD 50. Volume was about 34% above average, but a seven-week base remains intact, for now. StoneCo (STNE), another Brazil-based payment technology stock, shed 5.2% in heavy trade to slice its 50-day line.
Other IBD 50 stocks in the finance-credit card/payment group also getting hit hard included Qiwi (QIWI), Visa (V), Euronet Worldwide (EEFT) and PayPal (PYPL). They lost 2% to 3% apiece.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) fell 1.4% to its lowest level since June.
Follow Nancy Gondo on Twitter @IBD_NGondo
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