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 Weakness

• Whirlpool: -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 Selling

• First 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 Pressure

➡️ Lower yields and macro uncertainty weighed broadly on banks and credit-sensitive names.

Travel & Cyclicals Rolling Over

• United 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 / Defense

For the trading month, the biggest losers (selected highlights)

Crypto & Crypto-Linked Assets Hit Hard

• BTCUSD: -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 Lower

➡️ Investors rotated out of long-duration growth and AI leaders, reflecting valuation compression rather than a single catalyst.

Speculative / High-Beta Growth Under Pressure

➡️ Higher-beta retail favorites were among the hardest hit as risk appetite faded.

☀️ Cyclicals & Industrials Weakening

➡️ Cyclical and policy-sensitive sectors saw aggressive repositioning.

🏥 Defensive Growth Also Pulled Lower

➡️ Even higher-quality defensive growth names were not immune, signaling broad market de-risking.

Biggest winners this month (selected highlights)

🔌 AI Infrastructure & Connectivity Leaders

• Corning: +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 Rebound

➡️ Investors rotated toward real-economy cyclicals, signaling confidence in economic resilience.

Energy Strength

➡️ Rising commodity expectations and steady cash-flow stories supported energy stocks.

Healthcare & Defensive Growth

• Moderna: +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 Winners

➡️ Select consumer and entertainment names benefited from improving sentiment and positioning shifts.

Overall Monthly Takeaway for the winners

The 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 losers

This 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.