From Investor's Business Daily:
4:20 PM ET
There were few places to hide as the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke key support and dived as much as 599 points in the stock market today. But it closed off session lows during a rout fueled by weak jobs data.
After paring some earlier losses, the Dow Jones industrials sank nearly 1.9%, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8% and the Nasdaq shed 1.6%. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000, down 0.9%, fared a little better. Volume swelled on the NYSE and Nasdaq vs. Tuesday, according to early numbers.
ADP payrolls last month slowed to a net gain of 135,000 jobs, down from 157,000 in August. The gain also missed the Econoday projection for 152,000 net jobs added. That followed Tuesday's disappointing ISM manufacturing data, which fell to a 10-year low and showed contraction for a second straight month.....MORE
The Dow Jones index gapped down below its 50-day moving average for the first time in nearly a month — and got to within 1% of testing the 200-day. For the week thus far, the blue chip index has lost 741 points. The S&P 500 gave up its 50-day line Tuesday; the Nasdaq did so last week.
Among blue chips, Chevron (CVX), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and American Express (AXP) shed more than 3% apiece in the broad sell-off.
Chevron skidded to an eight-month low, while American Express breached its 200-day line for the first time since late January. Light sweet crude oil prices slid 1.9% to $52.61 a barrel. Exxon Mobil (XOM) tumbled 2.6%, though in lower volume than usual.
Apple (AAPL) fell 2.5% but continued to hold near a 221.47 buy point. Volume was around 18% higher than normal. The stock is 5% off its 52-week high and has been stuck in a trading range between about 217 and 225 the past three weeks.
One Dow Jones Winner...
Earlier at IBD
1:26 pm EDT
Stock Losses Mount As Indexes Break Support; One Hopeful Sign
