The markets find themselves retreating to start the week. Monday the S&P 500 (SPY ) sold off aggressively as tech stocks pulled back and more White House drama had investors concerned. Tuesday showed a small attempt to recover some of those declines, but with the Federal Reserve set to announce rates on Wednesday, investors were not ready to take on risk ahead of that meeting. For the week the SPY is lower by just over 1%.
The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ ) was hit hard to start the week. Many of the tech names that had strong runups last week were sold off including Facebook (FB ) which has lost over 9% already this week thanks to a data scandal that continues to dominate the headlines. For the week the QQQ is lower by 2%.
Oil (USO ) has had a strong start this week. Tuesday the USO shot up 2% as the price of oil soared out of a technical resistance area. The USO has moved right into previous highs, adding over 2% on the week so far.
Retail (XRT ) continues to head south this week. After last weeks small decline of 1.5%, this week has already lost the same 1.5% but in only the first two days of the week. Though many suggest there is technical support nearing, the sellers have consistently pulled the XRT lower, on consistent volume.
Lastly, consumer staples (XLP ) has also continued it's selloff this week. The ETF pushed down to supportive lows last week and has continued this move so far this week which has caused a break of that support area. Both Monday and Tuesday broke to new lows as investors seem to be interested in other, investments like oil.
The focus on Wednesday will be on the Federal Reserve rate hike. Sector ETF's like Bonds (TLT ), Gold (GLD ), and Financial's (XLF ) are likely to see increased volatility into the rate announcement.