"In any case, with the S&P and Nasdaq 100 also having a rough second half of January, questions linger about whether the rest of the year will be like January. Personally, I wouldn't make too much of the Dow's recent three-week losing streak. As we found out in the depths of January, stocks can bounce back quite quickly. Indeed, volatility can work on the way up just as it does on the way down."
"While there are better ways to track how U.S. large-cap value is faring, I do think the Dow remains a quick and easy way to spot any sudden sentiment shifts on any given day. Of course, given that the index is price-weighted, I wouldn't take any trends too seriously. If anything, the Dow is more of a fun basket to watch than anything else, especially since one can easily look underneath the hood to see what's gone wrong (or right)."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended January on a three-week losing streak, reflecting choppy market action and divergence from broader gauges. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 also weakened in the second half of January as tech's larger weighting amplified moves. The Dow's price-weighted structure limits its role as a market proxy, though it can quickly reveal daily sentiment shifts. Heightened volatility may persist through 2026, making market timing risky. Several large-cap laggards, including Salesforce and UnitedHealth, accounted for significant Dow weakness, with Microsoft surprisingly posting double-digit losses year-to-date. Stocks retained the capacity for swift rebounds.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]