S&P 500 sheds 64 points on Tuesday to close -1.47% as risk appetite stumbles

US equities down across the board as risk aversion takes a bite out of stocks.
Deterioration in consumer sentiment and sliding new home sales is reigniting fears about the health of the US economy.
US equities indexes broadly down over a full percentage point for Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor’s (S&P 500 equity index declined in Tuesday’s market session, sliding 64 points to close at $4,273.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined 388 points to end the day in the red 1.14% at $33,618.88. The NASDAQ composite index also shed almost 208 points, closing -1.57% into $13,063.61.

The DJIA saw its worst single-day decline since March while the S&P saw its lowest close since early June.

US new home sales broadly missed expectations, declining 8.7% from July.

US consumer confidence also declined, with the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index printing 103 for September, a nearly six-point decline from August’s 108.7.

Backsliding economic health indicators for the US economy saw all eleven sectors in the S&P 500 close in the red for Tuesday.

September is on pace to reinforce its reputation as a poor month for equities: the S&P is down almost 7% for the month, while the DJIA and the NASDAQ are off the month’s opening prices by 5% and 3% respectively.

With the Federal Reserve (Fed) seeing less rate cuts next year than markets initially hoping for, and Fed officials plaguing investors with hawkish comments that could see the Fed raising rates even more than markets have forecast, equities are swooning heading into the tail end of September.

Adding fuel to the short-side fire, the US is still facing down investor jitters as the US government barrels towards a potential government shutdown, and rumors of a potential bipartisan deal are doing little to quell the market rattles.

S&P 500 technical outlook

The S&P 500 is tumbling for Tuesday, sliding into $4,272.00 and well off last week’s late swing high of $4,460.00 and is down 7.25% from late July’s peak near $4,600.00.

Daily candlesticks see the S&P 500 skidding toward the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at the $4,200.00 handle, and there is little long-term technical support if equities continue to sell off.

The S&P 500’s last meaningful bottom is priced in far below current price action near $3,800.00 from back in March.