Market Confusion Reigns

Yesterday was one of the most confusing sessions in modern history

Highlights

• Equities declined yesterday despite a show of strong breadth

• Diverging global rate cut expectations to create winners and losers

• Rising joblessness at the margin is undoubtedly bond bullish

• The Beige Book is replete with descriptions of economic weakness

While We Were Sleeping

Yesterday was one of the most confusing sessions in modern history.

The S&P 500 closed with a -0.6% loss, dipping below its 21-day trendline, but nine out of the eleven equity sectors closed higher. About 360 S&P 500 stocks actually rose on the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down -330 points, or -0.9%. Salesforce, which sank following a disappointing earnings report, subtracted about -352 points from the index. So, outside of Salesforce (which was also the worst performer in the S&P 500 by far), the Dow actually rose +22 points.

The Nasdaq Composite gave up -1.1%. No surprise since Tech was the worst-performing sector.