How the day closed: indexes, leaders, laggards, and volatility.
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This is the CAMS Closing Market Recap for Thursday, July 30.
Stocks closed sharply higher on Fed decision day, and technology did nearly all of the heavy lifting. The S&P 500 finished up about 1.7 percent, the Nasdaq 100 jumped 3.3 percent, the Dow added about 1.2 percent, and the Russell 2000 small caps rose 1.4 percent.
Under the surface, though, this was a narrow rally. Inside the Dow, decliners actually outnumbered advancers, seventeen to twelve. Microsoft carried an enormous share of the move, up more than 15 percent on the day, with Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar also solidly higher. On the other side, Salesforce fell about 4 percent, while Johnson and Johnson and Travelers each lost more than 3 percent.
The sector board tells the same story. Six of the eleven sectors closed lower. Technology surged five and a half percent, far ahead of industrials, up about 1 percent, and consumer discretionary, up just under 1 percent. The defensive corners were left behind: health care slipped 1.6 percent, staples fell 2.2 percent, and communications dropped 2.7 percent.
Volatility unwound hard. The VIX fell about 17 percent to just over 17, a big release of the caution that had built up ahead of the Fed meeting.
In one sentence, this was a Fed day relief rally carried almost entirely on technology's shoulders while much of the rest of the market quietly slipped.
With the Fed decision now behind the market, tomorrow's calendar looks quiet in our data. The desk will be watching whether technology's leadership broadens out to the rest of the market, or whether the average stock keeps sitting this one out.
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