71% of S&P 500 members fall, and only two sectors rise

The S&P 500 closed at 7,641.16 (-0.9%), the Nasdaq at 26,067.17 (-1.0%), and the Dow at 52,759.21 (-1.3%), all lower on August 20 (ET); among the index members 143 rose and 354 fell, an advance rate of 28.6%, and the VIX jumped 7.5% to 16.01.

• Analysts read the Treasury's bond buybacks as doing little for long-end yields, and doubt spread to the rescue effort itself; the benchmark yield rebounded to 4.70% and the long end to 5.24%, both up 4.3bp

• On top of that, only two of the 11 sectors rose, Energy +0.3% and Real Estate +0.2%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 -1.3%, RTX -3.7%, and Ford (F) -3.5% widened the decline

• Still, no identifiable catalyst accompanied CrowdStrike (CRWD) -5.6% or Zscaler (ZS) -5.2%; Micron (MU) rose 4.0% on its announcement of a $10 billion AI memory research lab

• The Fear & Greed index fell to 52 from 67 a week ago, moving from Greed to Neutral; Nvidia and Salesforce report after the close on August 26 — the next turning point

Moderna -23.6%, one day after its surge

Moderna (MRNA) closed down -23.6% today after a record surge the previous day, when Merck and Moderna announced a successful large-scale melanoma vaccine trial

• The steepest drop among U.S. large caps today; Health Care -1.9%, the worst of the 11 sectors

• Bank of America raised its Moderna rating the previous day, citing progress in cancer treatment

• Whether the Merck-Moderna melanoma result opens the way to wider cancer vaccines is the next thing to watch

Walmart falls -9.2% despite an earnings beat

Walmart (WMT) beat on profit, but U.S. comparable-store sales growth fell short of expectations, sending the stock down -9.2%

• The second-steepest drop, and the only consumer staples name among the six largest decliners

• Meanwhile Alibaba also fell as Q2 profit missed estimates despite strong AI cloud growth, with reported names reacting to the line that missed rather than the strong one

• On top of that, Consumer Staples -1.4% and Consumer Discretionary -1.6%, with consumer-facing sectors weak together