So much for that record high. One day after setting another all-time high, the S&P 500 Index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is in a rout, down 3.1%, or more than 100 points, just before 1 p.m. EDT on Sept. 3. In a typical year, a 3% move down would likely go down as the worst day of the year. But 2020 has been anything but typical with the economy struggling to bounce back under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic that still has tens of millions of Americans out of work or working less than they want.
Today's sell-off is broad and deep with the majority of stocks in every sector down, and only one notable group of stocks -- cruise stocks -- in the index up on the day. Starting at the top of the index, the megacaps Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), with a market cap of more than $800 billion are all down more than 4.5%. Apple in particular is down sharply, with the $2.25 trillion company's shares down almost 7%.
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