So far this week the markets have been rather mixed. As the new quarter begins, the S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) remains near all-time highs but has also begun to grow choppy. For the last 11 trading days, the SPY has been stuck in a range of plus or minus about one percent. Weakness in a few of the overall sectors has held back the major index from pushing out of this recent range.
The Nasdaq 100 (NASDAQ: QQQ) has shown more interesting movement, beginning with positive gains only to sell off by the end of the day, giving back all of the gains for the week so far. Biotech and big tech names are some of the areas to blame for the index.
Consumer discretionary (NYSE: XLY) stocks have seen some aggressive weakness so far as the sector sold off Tuesday back to last month's lows. Though the sector still remains near highs, investors won't soon forget the strong selloff on Tuesday this week with volume above average.
Utilities (NYSE: XLU) have been one of the bright spots so far this week. Interest rates are backing off their highs, allowing for a little breathing room in the interest rate-sensitive sector. As of this writing, the XLU has recovered more than half of its declines leading up to, and including, the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate hike.
Oil (NYSE: USO) spent the first part of the week breaking to new highs thanks to continued pressure on the world's oil supply. The Iranian sanctions, along with domestic drawdowns in oil supplies, have helped support the price of crude.
Retail stocks (NYSE: XRT) have been the sector with the most trading volume so far this week as Tuesday's selloff sparked investors profit-taking mood. Most retail stocks sold off on Tuesday as a broad based selloff pushed the space down over 3%, its biggest one-day loss in months.
There are many underlying stocks and sectors that have shown more and more weakness this week, which suggests a pending market pullback in the short term.