Market Slump Ahead of Powell’s Jackson Hole Speech as Tech Stocks Retreat

The S&P 500 extended its losing streak to five consecutive days, dropping 0.4% to close at 6,370.17. The Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones followed suit, slipping 0.34% and 0.34% respectively. Investors remain cautious as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming Jackson Hole speech looms, with CME’s FedWatch tool indicating a 74% probability of a rate cut in September.

Retail investors have abruptly shifted from buyers to sellers, offloading approximately $140 million in tech stocks over the past week—a stark reversal from weeks of consistent billion-dollar daily inflows. Megacap tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon dragged the market downward, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq losing 0.8% and 2.1% respectively. Palantir, a retail favorite, plummeted over 13%.

Tom Essaye of The Sevens Report noted that while tech has driven market gains for years, valuations have become stretched. The sector’s cooling momentum raises questions about broader market stability as monetary policy uncertainty persists.