As the commentary goes below, this week has seen a rotation out of tech and into value.  That certainly wasn’t true today as tech was barely touched but the value stocks represented by the Dow took a good hit.  This was despite the fact that many value stocks, particularly in the financial and energy sectors, did well in the S&P.  Other bad news included increasing unemployment claims and more slowing in the services sector.  The jobs report coming Friday should provide more clarity.  Volume remains above average at 11.1 billion. 

Thu  January 6, 2022  4:42 PM

S&P 500 ends jumpy session nearly flat, a day after sell-off

By Caroline Valetkevitch

DJ: 36,407.11  -392.54         NAS: 15,100.17  -522.54        S&P: 4,700.58  -92.96      1/5

DJ: 36,236.47  -170.64         NAS: 15,080.86  -19.31          S&P: 4,696.05  -4.53        1/6

NEW YORK Jan 6 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended a volatile session close to unchanged on Thursday, with financials among sectors lending support a day after the market sold off on a hawkish slant in Federal Reserve minutes.  The S&P 500 financials index (.SPSY) rose, extending recent strong gains. Other economically sensitive sectors including energy (.SPNY) were up as well.  Banks were among the top performers among financials, with the S&P 500 bank index (.SPXBK) gaining as the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since April 2021. Higher interest rates can increase profit margins for banks and other financial firms.

Shares of Meta Platforms (FB.O) jumped and gave the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.  But the Dow was lower and the heavily weighted S&P technology index (.SPLRCT) also eased, after being the biggest drag on the S&P 500 on Wednesday when minutes from the Fed's December meeting signaled the possibility of sooner-than-expected rate hikes.

"We have a jobs report tomorrow, which continues to be a focal area for the market in terms of the progression of the labor market," said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.  Wednesday's private payrolls report was stronger than expected, and the Fed minutes cited a "very tight" job market and unabated inflation. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 170.64 points, or 0.47%, to 36,236.47, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 4.53 points, or 0.10%, to 4,696.05 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 19.31 points, or 0.13%, to 15,080.87.

So far this week, market participants have rotated out of technology-heavy growth shares and into more value-oriented stocks that tend to do better in a high interest-rate environment.

Data early on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week. Separately, U.S. services industry activity slowed more than expected in December, but supply bottlenecks appeared to be easing. read more 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.07-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 492 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.10 billion shares, compared with the 10.4 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.