ChartWatchers

Big Drop in Apple Hurts Tech Sector and The Nasdaq Which Are Leading Today's Stock Retreat

John Murphy

John Murphy

Chief Technical Analyst, StockCharts.com

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in John Murphy's Market Message on Friday, November 2nd at 12:28pm ET.


It's usually not a good sign when the market's biggest stock takes a big hit. That's especially true when it happens the day after the company reported its fourth consecutive quarter of record revenue and profits. But that's today's biggest story. Chart 1 shows Apple (AAPL) plunging -7% and falling to the lowest level in nearly three months (after failing a test of its 50-day average). Over the past month, we've seen a succession of big tech stocks fall on strong earnings, which is never a good sign. Apple is the last and the biggest of the so-called FAANG stocks to fall. That's weighing especially hard on the technology sector and the Nasdaq market. And it's happening just as they're meeting resistance at their 200-day moving averages.

Chart 1

John Murphy
About the author: is the Chief Technical Analyst at StockCharts.com, a renowned author in the investment field and a former technical analyst for CNBC, and is considered the father of inter-market technical analysis. With over 40 years of market experience, he is the author of numerous popular works including “Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets” and “Trading with Intermarket Analysis”. Before joining StockCharts, John was the technical analyst for CNBC-TV for seven years on the popular show Tech Talk, and has authored three best-selling books on the subject: Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, Trading with Intermarket Analysis and The Visual Investor. Learn More