July 24, Market Update

It was an erratic day of trading on Wall Street, with tech shares being the primary source of volatility. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1% at the start of Tuesday's session, touching a new intraday record, but gave it all back, settling a tick below its flat line. The S&P 500 and the Dow also reversed course intraday, but managed to tack on 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, nonetheless. Small caps struggled, pushing the Russell 2000 lower by 1.1%.

The tech group was up as much as 1.5% on Tuesday but started to fade as Alphabet came off its highs and as chipmakers tumbled into negative territory. Alphabet still settled with a solid gain of 3.5%, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 1.1% after being up as much as 1.2%.
There wasn't a news-driven catalyst behind Tuesday's tech reversal; rather, it was most likely driven by profit-taking activity amid the technology sector's continued out-performance. The tech space is up 16.6% year-to-date, piling that on top of last year's 36.9% surge.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has managed to break the $8,000 level for the first time since May and is now trading at $8,300, up over 34% this month. Other cryptocurrencies were lagging the market leader but seem to be catching up right now. The SEC has received several applications for potential Bitcoin ETFs that will make it significantly easier for individual and institutional investors to buy into the cryptocurrency.