VORB - S&P 500 Dow break winning streak amid mild profit-taking; Nasdaq also falls

2023-04-04 16:11:02 ET

As investors began to look ahead to ahead to a key jobs report at the end of the week, Wall Street saw a mild bout of profit taking on Tuesday, with the major U.S. equity averages finishing the day with modest declines. The Dow and S&P 500 broke a four-session winning streak, while the Nasdaq ended lower for the second consecutive session.

The Nasdaq Composite ( COMP.IND ) finished -0.5% , the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) ended -0.6% and the Dow ( DJI ) closed -0.6% .

"Just as the markets were adjusting to the potential for a lower trajectory of Fed rate hikes, OPEC+ shocked the markets with an over one million barrel per day cut in petroleum production," Andrew Hecht told Seeking Alpha. "Oil is back over $80 per barrel, gold is well over $2,000, and inflation is back at the center of the stage."

Hecht added: "Expect lots of volatility in markets across all asset classes as the economic and political landscapes remain highly uncertain."

The end of the week will see the release of critical employment data, which will shed light on the health of the economy as investors attempt to handicap the likelihood of another interest rate hike at the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting next month.

Ahead of this report, Tuesday saw the release of the monthly JOLTS figures, which indicated that job openings dropped to 9.931M in February. This was much lower than the 10.4M total that experts had predicted and the first time the figure dropped below the 10M mark since May 2021.

The bond market saw another round of buying, with Treasury yields continuing a recent slide. The 10-year yield ( US10Y ) dropped 8 basis points to 3.35% and the more rate-sensitive 2-year yield ( US2Y ) declined 14 basis points to 3.84%.

Among active stocks, Virgin Orbit ( VORB ) plunged after the Richard Branson-backed satellite launch firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection .

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