At noon today, September 21, the NASDAQ 100, dominated by the big stocks that have led this rally, was down by 1.17%.
Shares of Apple (AAPL), were lower by 0.41%. Amazon (AMZN) was off 1.66%. Alphabet (GOOG) was down 2.72%. Facebook (FB) had tumbled 2.10%. Microsoft (MSFT) had lost 0.59%.
At the close, though, the NASDAQ was ahead 0.40%. Apple had climbed 3.03% on the day. Amazon was up 0.19%. Alphabet was still lower but by a smaller 1.97%. Facebook too had narrowed its loss to 1.73%. Microsoft had rebounded to a gain of 1.07%.
You could see traders betting on the tech bounce during the day. Money was flowing into leveraged ETFs betting on a recovery in tech stocks. The options market still showed an elevated interest in big momentum tech plays such as Apple and Facebook.
Interestingly, for yet another day, you would have done better in technology momentum stocks outside the biggest names. For example, Veeva Systems (VEEV) was up 0.76% at noon and 2.11% at the close. PayPal (PYPL) was higher by  2.81% at noon and by 4.06% at the close.
Gold took another drop today as investors and traders continued to use the metal as a source of cash. Gold for December delivery was down 2.26% on the Comex. And you can understand why some investors and traders might be looking to take profits here, especially in gold stocks. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) fell 3.87% today. Year to date before today this ETF of gold mining stocks was ahead 41.26%.
The group of stocks most exposed to another coronavirus surge and economic slowdown didn’t bounce in the afternoon. American Airlines (AAL) was down 7.01% at noon and finished down 7.43% for the day. Six Flags (SIX) was lower by 7.01% at noon and closed down 7.68%. Cruise operator Carnival (CCL), after showing a 6.41% loss at noon, ended the day lower by 6.73%.
