Major US stock indices close lower. S&P and NASDAQ index down for the month

Both the S&P index only NASDAQ index closed lower for the month. The S&P fell -0.87% after a gain of 1.37% in the month of January. The NASDAQ index-3.38%. That was its worst month since March 2025. The Dow industrial average rose by a modest 0.17%. For the trading day, the major indices are all closing lower:Dow industrial average -1.05%S&P index -0.43%NASDAQ index -0.92%.For the trading week:Dow industrial average -1.31%S&P index -0.44%NASDAQ index -0.95%Some of the loser this week: Consumer & Retail WeaknessWhirlpool: -19.00% — largest decline; cyclical consumer demand concerns and rate sensitivity weighing on appliances.Macy’s Inc: -11.78% — continued pressure on discretionary retail spending outlook.Dollar Tree: -5.98% — defensive retail also seeing margin and consumer-trend worries.Best Buy: -3.92% — electronics demand uncertainty persists.Nike: -4.91% — growth expectations moderating.High-Beta Growth & Tech SellingFirst Solar: -18.51% — clean energy names hit hard amid rate/yield volatility.Zoom Video: -18.11% — growth multiple compression continues.NVIDIA: -6.65% — profit-taking despite strong AI narrative.Synopsys: -5.90%Broadcom: -3.92%Micron: -3.69%➡️ Semis and AI leaders saw rotation and valuation pressure, not outright fundamental deterioration.Financials Under PressureAmerican Express: -10.80%PNC Financial: -9.00%Wells Fargo: -8.21%Bank of America: -6.13%Morgan Stanley: -5.09%Citigroup: -5.02%Goldman Sachs: -6.72%➡️ Lower yields and macro uncertainty weighed broadly on banks and credit-sensitive names.Travel & Cyclicals Rolling OverUnited Airlines Holdings: -5.95%Southwest Airlines: -5.45%Delta Air Lines: -5.37%American Airlines: -3.83%➡️ Cyclical reopening trades softened as growth expectations cooled.Industrials / DefenseRaytheon: -17.17% — notable individual weakness within defense.For the trading month, the biggest losers (selected highlights)Crypto & Crypto-Linked Assets Hit HardBTCUSD: -26.48%Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC): -26.39%Bitcoin Futures: -26.05%Robinhood Markets: -26.64%Strategy (MicroStrategy): -18.27%➡️ A broad risk unwind in crypto spilled into crypto-levered equities and trading platforms as momentum reversed sharply.High-Growth Tech & AI Names Repriced LowerSnowflake: -22.09%Zoom Video: -23.16%CrowdStrike: -20.72%Palo Alto Networks: -18.95%Synopsys: -19.04%AMD: -20.80%Microsoft: -18.46%IBM: -18.42%Intuit: -24.07%➡️ Investors rotated out of long-duration growth and AI leaders, reflecting valuation compression rather than a single catalyst. Speculative / High-Beta Growth Under PressureSoFi Technologies: -27.80%Trump Media & Technology Group: -21.31%➡️ Higher-beta retail favorites were among the hardest hit as risk appetite faded.☀️ Cyclicals & Industrials WeakeningFirst Solar: -20.97%Raytheon: -36.14% (largest decline of the group)➡️ Cyclical and policy-sensitive sectors saw aggressive repositioning.🏥 Defensive Growth Also Pulled LowerBoston Scientific: -18.06%➡️ Even higher-quality defensive growth names were not immune, signaling broad market de-risking.Biggest winners this month (selected highlights)🔌 AI Infrastructure & Connectivity LeadersCorning: +44.24% — strongest performer; beneficiary of data-center and fiber demand tied to AI buildout.Ciena Corp: +35.51% — networking infrastructure strength as bandwidth demand accelerates.Dell Technologies: +26.11%Arm Holdings: +15.91%Taiwan Semiconductor: +9.46%➡️ Capital spending tied to AI infrastructure and hardware buildout remained a dominant market theme.Industrials, Transport & Cyclical ReboundFedEx: +23.01%Caterpillar: +15.50%Southwest Airlines: +20.53%Marriott International: +9.48%➡️ Investors rotated toward real-economy cyclicals, signaling confidence in economic resilience. Energy StrengthOccidental Petroleum: +18.45%Baker Hughes: +15.22%Exxon Mobil: +9.91%Chevron: +9.90%➡️ Rising commodity expectations and steady cash-flow stories supported energy stocks.Healthcare & Defensive GrowthModerna: +18.26%Merck & Co: +15.77%Biogen: +9.70%Stryker: +8.32%➡️ Healthcare attracted flows as investors balanced growth exposure with defensive positioning.Consumer & Media WinnersTapestry: +23.38%Target: +11.80%Walmart: +9.73%Netflix: +13.71%Live Nation Entertainment: +9.86%Paramount Skydance: +19.14%Twitter Inc: +9.19%➡️ Select consumer and entertainment names benefited from improving sentiment and positioning shifts.Overall Monthly Takeaway for the winnersThe winners this month reveal a clear rotation beneath the market surface:AI spending broadened beyond software into infrastructure and hardware.Investors favored cash-flow-generating cyclicals and energy over speculative growth.Healthcare and defensive growth attracted diversification flows.The market rewarded tangible earnings visibility and real-economy exposure.Overall Monthly Takeaway for the losersThis month’s losers point to a clear regime shift in market positioning:Crypto weakness led the risk-off move, dragging related equities sharply lower.AI and software leaders experienced valuation resets after extended upside runs.Selling was systematic and cross-sector, not tied to one industry.Markets rotated away from momentum, leverage, and long-duration growth assets.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.

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