| Name | Daily Close | Daily Change | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 42579.08 | -427.51 | -0.99% |
| S&P 500 | 5738.52 | -104.11 | -1.78% |
| Nasdaq | 18069.26 | -483.48 | -2.61% |
| VIX | 24.87 | 2.94 | 13.41% |
| Gold | 2919.8 | -6.2 | -0.21% |
| Oil | 66.27 | -0.04 | -0.06% |
US MARKET
US equities plunged on Thursday, as trade uncertainty and tariff policy shifts from the Trump administration fuelled investor anxiety. The S&P 500 fell 1.8% and the Nasdaq sank 2.6%, both hit their lowest level since November, while the Dow Jones dropped 428 points. Tech stocks led the decline, with Marvell Technology sinking 19.8% after a disappointing AI-driven sales forecast, dragging Nvidia (-5.7%), Broadcom (-6.3%), and AMD (-2.8%) lower. More broadly in Tech – Tesla -6.4% (its getting ugly), Netflix -8.3%.
Investors had hoped for relief after the White House announced a one-month tariff delay on some Mexican and Canadian goods, but market sentiment remained fragile. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s endorsement of tariffs raised concerns about the administration’s long-term trade stance, further unsettling Wall Street. Authorities can control fiscal and monetary – they can’t control consumer and business sentiment – and that is what is driving US markets currently.
Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims data showed a decline, but fears of slowing economic growth and potential stagflation lingered. All eyes are now on Friday’s jobs report for further clues on the economy’s trajectory.
Just two weeks ago, high-flying mega-tech stocks and their chipmaking cousins were powering the Nasdaq 100 Index to yet another record. And investor appetite seemed bottomless: Same-day bullish options exploded in popularity, and triple leveraged ETFs flooded the market. But now the feast appears to be over, at least for time being. The Nasdaq 100 is down 9.6% since hitting a record on Feb. 19, just shy of the 10% threshold for a correction. It’s a drawdown so swift you have to go back to the pandemic collapse to match it.
And look out. Systematic CTA funds are amongst the big sellers – they have to be. And they will sell all next week based on the rules based trading. And if public equities wasn’t interesting enough – so much for the liquidity of private equity markets opening up this year. So, the liquidity issue continues in PE. That may have been acceptable last year as public market valuations were rising, but now we have valuations declining and business and consumer sentiment moving off a cliff. Declining valuations, no exit path. Ouch!!
LOCAL MARKET
The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.57% to close at 8,095 on Thursday, marking its lowest level in ten weeks, driven by significant losses in energy, consumer, and technology stocks. Australian shares also lagged behind a global market rebound, even as US President Donald Trump granted a one-month exemption on new tariffs for US carmakers importing from Mexico and Canada.
Meanwhile, Australia’s trade balance for January exceeded expectations, with export growth accelerating and imports declining. Energy stocks led the market pullback, as weaker oil prices weighed on the sector. Woodside Energy and Santos saw losses of 4.9% and 2.1%, respectively. Consumer and technology stocks also struggled, with notable declines from Wesfarmers (-1.6%), Woolworths Group (-0.9%), Aristocrat Leisure (-0.5%), Zip Co (-0.5%), and Appen (-9%).
ASX futures were pointing 0.8% lower. Might go a little more south than that.