September has been a turbulent month for the stock market, witnessing significant fluctuations in values. Currently, investors are primarily concerned about the looming possibility of a government shutdown and the potential risk of the USA exceeding its debt ceiling. However, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer puts forth a measure for today, there is hope that these issues can be averted if the measure is passed. With today’s vote pending, investors are focusing on maximizing profits before the month wraps up.
At the start of trading today, the Dow Jones average increased by 24 points, marking a 0.1% gain. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq performed slightly better, showing gains of 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. Tech stocks, including Facebook, Apple, and Netflix, led the late surge with gains of around 2%. Despite these modest improvements, all major indexes experienced significant losses throughout the month. The Dow dropped by 2.7%, the S&P 500 by 3.6%, and the Nasdaq suffered the most with a 4.9% decline.
The Dow and S&P 500 rebounded from Tuesday’s market slide thanks to a jump in Boeing shares and gains in defensive sectors, but the Nasdaq closed lower as Treasury yields halted their ascent
pic.twitter.com/RwT3BVUoyb— Reuters (@Reuters) September 30, 2021
“We wouldn’t get caught up in any end-of-quarter machinations today and continue to advise fading rallies (especially in tech) as the coming weeks will stay rocky,” advised Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge to investors.
As the holiday shopping season approaches and the year-end nears, October usually brings about intriguing developments. Commenting on September’s impact, Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research noted, “September lived up to its reputation and dented stock portfolio returns, but not too badly. There has been concern about the impact of higher wages, energy prices, and transportation costs on earnings for the rest of this year and into 2022. This is an area that we will be closely monitoring. Nonetheless, analysts remain somewhat optimistic.”
