Market Review 18th July 2024

Simplify the craziness

DAILY REVIEW

2 min read

Index Funds and Futures

SPY (S&P 500 ETF): After a strong start to the week, SPY closed lower on Thursday, driven by a broad selloff in the technology sector. This marked the first 1% down day in more than two months for the S&P 500.
QQQ (Nasdaq 100 ETF): The tech-heavy QQQ also saw significant declines, continuing a trend from Wednesday, which recorded the worst daily performance since 2022. The QQQ fell more than 0.7% on Thursday.

ES (S&P 500 E-mini Futures): ES futures mirrored the SPY's performance, turning down as the day progressed and closing lower due to the technology sector selloff.
NQ (Nasdaq 100 E-mini Futures): NQ futures experienced similar declines, reflecting the broader weakness in the tech sector.
CL (Crude Oil Futures): Crude oil prices were lower, contributing to a weaker performance in energy stocks and impacting overall market sentiment.

Initial Jobless Claims: The latest report showed U.S. initial jobless claims at 243,000 for the week, a 9% increase from the previous week and 4% above the four-week average. This indicates a softening in the labor market but not a sharp deterioration. The unemployment rates in both Canada and the U.S. remain historically low.

Market Rotation: The recent market rotation saw big-cap tech and growth stocks, which had led much of 2024, becoming laggards. Small-caps and cyclical sectors emerged as winners due to economic readings, lower interest rates, and potential changes in U.S. policies as election expectations shifted.

Interest Rate Outlook: The growing likelihood of a September interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve has bolstered optimism in the broader market, benefiting small caps and cyclical sectors more than tech stocks.

Nasdaq Composite: The Nasdaq fell more than 0.7% on Thursday, continuing a decline from Wednesday. This was driven by a selloff in tech stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA), TSMC, and ASML, due to potential U.S. export curbs to China.
S&P 500: The S&P 500 lost around 0.8%, with broad declines across most sectors, except for a few defensive plays.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow slipped more than 1%, or nearly 550 points, following an all-time closing record earlier in the week.

Russell 2000: The small-cap index fell nearly 2% on Thursday despite a recent strong performance, highlighting the ongoing market volatility.
Netflix (NFLX): Reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings but missed revenue expectations for the current quarter, causing the stock to slip about 2% in after-hours trading.
TSMC: The chip giant reported a 36% jump in profit and raised its 2024 sales outlook, signaling confidence in the AI boom, though its stock still faced pressure from broader tech weakness.

Incident: Indian crypto exchange WazirX experienced a security breach in one of its multisig wallets, leading to the loss of user funds and over $230 million in withdrawals.
Stolen Funds: The exploiter is actively selling the stolen tokens, including $100 million worth of Shiba Inu and $52 million in Ether, on the on-chain exchange Uniswap. These stolen funds account for over 45% of the total reserves cited by the exchange in a June 2024 report.