S&P Drops Below 200‑DMA
The S&P 500 slid 1.51% to 6,507.49 on Friday (March 20), marking its fourth straight weekly decline and a close below the 200‑day moving average for the first time since last May — the Nasdaq and Dow also fell and Nike hit a fresh 52‑week low. Traders and analysts pinned the move on war‑driven oil volatility, rising bond yields and a massive options‑expiration event that amplified flows. (fool.com) (cnn.com)
The S&P’s 200‑day moving average was sitting near 6,622 on March 20, 2026 — roughly 115 points above the index’s end‑of‑day level that session. (barchart.com) The benchmark 10‑year Treasury yield jumped to about 4.39% on March 20, the highest level since August and adding pressure to rate‑sensitive sectors. (bloomberg.com) Brent crude traded around $111–$112 a barrel on March 20 after a month of sharp gains driven by the Iran war, with benchmark oil up more than 40% this month on supply‑risk concerns. (bloomberg.com) (reuters.com) About $5.7 trillion in notional options tied to stocks, indexes and ETFs were set to expire in the March quarterly “triple‑witching” event — Citigroup’s largest March expiry on record — a flow event traders said amplified intraday swings. (bloomberg.com) NIKE Inc. hit a fresh intraday 52‑week low near $52.18 after UBS cut its price target to $58, with over 10.4 million shares changing hands during the move. (marketbeat.com) Tech led the selloff: the Nasdaq‑100 was at its weakest levels since September and several big‑cap semiconductors (including Nvidia and Micron) were among the heaviest decliners, while small caps slipped into correction territory. (bloomberg.com) (apnews.com)
