It was an absolute bloodbath on Wall Street today as stocks had their worst day of the year by far, along with the week in over 2 years. The Dow 30 was lower by 671 points. The S&P 500 lost 60 and the Nasdaq 100 was lower by 144. Earnings took a backseat as all eyes were focused on the sharp move in the markets. Interest rates shot higher as traders fled to the safety of bonds.
Anything energy or oil related was absolutely decimated today. The price of oil initially sold off hard to start the day, but by the close had almost turned positive. Despite this, oil stocks and oil service stocks suffered yet another slide lower. The S&P Oil and Gas Exploration (NYSE: XOP) sector was the worst of the day, losing 3.59%.
The Dow was the worst performing index thanks to sharp moves lower by Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Both released earnings which investors responded negatively to. Exxon was lower by 5.82% and Chevron sold off 4.18%.
As for earnings, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) sold off on the confirmation that iPhone shipments were lower than expected. They also guided lower for the current quarter. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares were higher by 4.76% after easily beating Wall Street's expectations on earnings. Overall profits also came in much better than expected. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) did not fare so well however. Margins were the big focus as the company increasingly sees tighter and tighter margins across the board.
Lastly, volatility (NYSE: VXX) broke to new highs on the week, adding 14% today alone. This week was one of the best weeks for volatility since last summer.