As of 1 p.m. New York time the Standard & Poor’s 500 is down 1.88% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 2.14%. The NASDSQ Composite is lower by 0.79% and the Russell 2000 small cap index has tumbled 2.80%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has edged lower by 0.45%.
The big culprit in today’s losses is the financial sector. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) is lower by 3.81%. Tomorrow is the first day of first quarter earnings reports from the big banks and it’s safe to say that traders and investors are a little nervous about results tomorrow morning from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC), especially since both stocks have climbed significantly in last week’s 12% rally. Today JPMorgan Chase is down 4.04% as of 1 p.m. and Wells Fargo is lower by 4.28%.
The energy market hasn’t been able to pick up the slack despite the weekend OPEC+ agreement. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) is down 0.68% as of 1 p.m.
The technology sector is having its own struggles today with the Technology Select Sector SPDR slipping 1.29% as of 1 p.m. Some of that looks to be the result of a Raymond James cut of its target price on Apple (AAPL) to $305 from $360 a share on weakness in iPhone sales signaled by order cuts in China. Apple was higher by 0.4% at 1 p.m. Raymond James also cut its price targets for several Apple suppliers with the target at Qualcomm (QCOM) going to $110 from $115 and at Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) to $120 from $140.
Apple is scheduled to report on April 30 after the market close in New York.
