Tech and energy weigh on Nasdaq and S&P 500, Dow closes with small gains

Falling crude oil prices drag energy shares lower.
Tech sell-off extends into the second day.
Dow Jones stages late recovery to close in the green.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Major tech companies such as Twitter and Facebook remained under heavy selling pressure for the second day in a row on Thursday and weighed on the Nasdaq Composite Index. The S&P 500 Information Technology Index lost 0.8% and the IXIC finished the day 71.93 points, or 0.9%, lower at 7,923.25.

In the meantime, following the weekly EIA report, crude oil prices recorded sharp losses and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate erased nearly 2% before settling 1.4% lower at $67.77. The S&P 500 Energy Index dropped 1.93% to become the worst performing sector of the day.

On the other hand, some optimistic headlines on the U.S. - Canada NAFTA talks helped the market sentiment improve in the second half of the session. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, rose over 5% to reflect the increasing risk appetite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average staged a recovery in the last couple of hours ahead of the closing bell to end the day with a modest 0.1% gain at 25,997.19. The S&P 500 closed at 2,878.13 points with a 0.35% loss.

DJIA technical outlook via FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik

From a technical point of view, the Dow maintains a positive tone despite the latest absence of progress, as the daily chart shows it bounced for a third consecutive day from a bullish 20 DMA and posted a higher high and a higher low when compared to Wednesday. Technical indicators in the mentioned chart remain directionless but within positive levels.

The shorter term picture has turned neutral-to-bullish as the index closed the day above its moving averages, with the 20 SMA turning flat but the larger ones maintaining upward slopes below this last, while technical indicators entered the positive ground, but quickly lost upward strength.

Support levels: 25,971 25,926 25,877.

Resistance levels: 26,033 26,087 26,142.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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