U.S. markets closed lower for a second-straight session to extend February’s losses following a volatile month with plenty of whipsaw action. Today’s action showed market strength throughout the day before a recent pattern of final hour selling pressure emerged to stall momentum.
The Russell 2000 plummeted 1.6% after closing at its session low for a second-straight session and is less than 1% away from falling back below the 1,500 level. For the month the index swooned 4%. The Nasdaq gave back 0.8% after closing below the 7,300 level. The index was down 1.9% for February, snapping seven-straight months of gains.
The Dow fell 1.5% after testing a low of 25,022 and the S&P 500 sank 1.1% while holding the 2,700 level. Both indexes declined 4.3% and 3.9%, respectively, for the month and were coming off 10-month winning streaks.
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