Rampaging Stock Bears Slowed at Key S&P 500 Technical Level

The latest rout in US stocks took the S&P 500 below its June bear-market low -- and then some buyers showed up.

The S&P 500 fell as much as 2.5% to 3,663 around 12:30 p.m. in New York. It’s fluctuated just a few points above that level since, as programmed buys halted the decline, at least temporarily.

Traders who watch charts for signs of where the drop might ease had identified the June low as a potential area for support. A close below that level would wipe out all gains since the end of 2020.

The S&P 500 fell for a fourth straight day and is on track for its fourth weekly decline in five. The selloff has been unforgiving across sectors: the gauge has had over 400 members close lower on each of the last three days before Friday.

“The technicals have fallen out of bed,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley, said in a phone call.

Its breakdown since the August peaks solidifies the downtrend channel in place since the bull market apex in early January, according to Gina Martin Adams at Bloomberg Intelligence. “The breakdown beneath 3,900 support leaves little for the index to grasp at on its way to testing the June lows,” she wrote in a note.