Market Update

The stock market slid sharply in the opening minutes of trade, but support for the S&P 500 near 1300 has helped stocks pare their losses.

Without any uplifting corporate reports and some generally underwhelming personal income and spending numbers, market participants turned to selling this morning. Their efforts came in conjunction with weakness abroad and frustration related to Greece’s ongoing struggle to strike a compromise with its creditors. Reports continue to suggest that the country may not be given additional bailout funding without proof of progress in its austerity efforts.

Early selling quickly put the stock market on pace for its poorest performance of the past month, but selling pressure began to ease once the S&P 500 found technical support near the psychologically significant 1300 line.

Although the major averages have moved up from their morning lows, losses remain sizable. Of the major sectors, only telecom is sporting a gain. The sector has worked its way up to a 0.2% gain. Tech stocks actually poked into positive territory earlier, but the sector has since struggled to sustain the move. As such, it is currently narrowly below the neutral line.

Financials continue to wrestle with concerted selling, which has left the sector 1.5% lower on the session. Diversified financial services stocks have been hit particularly hard.

Market Update