** S&P 500 drops third-straight week, loses 3% amid diminishing hopes for Fed rate cuts, Middle East worries
** Cboe Volatility Index , Wall Street's 'fear gauge', breaches the 20 level as rate anxiety and geopolitical tensions cocktail keep investors defensive
** Indeed, as SPX takes out 10-week, and 50-day, moving averages, tumble intensifies
** This, with sputtering Nasdaq thrust, gravity prevails
** Just as U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield bumps up against big chart barrier
** By Fri close, S&P 500 back below 5,000, now down >5% from record closing high, as percentage of index stocks above their 50-DMAs has taken a plunge
** Most sectors stunned: Technology and Consumer Discretionary most fazed, while Financials and safe havens show spunk
** Tech slumps 7.3%. Chip stocks fall as investors wary of high interest rates.
Semiconductor index dives >9% for worst performance since week beginning June 27, 2022
** Consumer Discretionary drops 4.5%. Tesla
extends weekly skid to 14% amid Cybertrucks recall, global job cuts of 10% and Deutsche Bank downgrade on risks from Robotaxi pivot, Model 2 delays
** Real Estate crumbles 3.6%. Prologis tumbles after warehouse REIT warns of slowing freight demand
** Communication Services stumble 3.2%. Netflix
falls on move to stop reporting subscriber tally
Ticketmaster parent Live Nation slides on report DOJ to file antitrust suit
** Industrials decline 2%. Credit ratings firm Equifax plunges on below-consensus Q2 rev forecast as rates remain high
But United Airlines soars 23% on strong profit forecast, boosts peers
** Healthcare flat. UnitedHealth gains as Q1 profit beats estimates despite massive disruptions caused by Feb cyberattack on its tech unit
** Financials up 0.8%. Morgan Stanley rises as Q1 profit beats on investment banking, wealth management strength, and Goldman Sachs climbs on highest qtrly earnings since 2021
** Meanwhile, individual Investor bulls, bears hit levels not seen since early Nov
** SPX performance YTD:
(Lance Tupper and Terence Gabriel are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)
((lance.tupper.tr.com@reuters.net lance.tupper@tr.com terence.gabriel.tr.com@reuters.net terence.gabriel@tr.com))
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