Defensive Stocks Rise as Technology Shares Sell Off
Wednesday’s market action produced important changes in technical signals. The Vanguard Total Market ETF and S&P 500 ETF returned to sell signals, while the equal-weighted S&P 500 briefly maintained a buy signal that could reverse Thursday. The S&P 500 level of 781.25 was identified as an important resistance reference, with 750 as a potential downside target if the previous session’s low breaks. Tesla returned to a sell signal, Apple remained on a buy signal, and Shopify approached its daily, weekly, and monthly target of $250.
Sector trends continued to favor defensive positioning. Consumer staples and healthcare advanced, energy reached a new high for the current move, and transportation stocks made a new low. Canadian stocks pulled back, while the Venture Exchange broke below weekly support and its FlyPaper channel. Precious metals and mining shares remained weak, and higher-quality bonds attracted more interest than junk bonds. Thursday’s U.S. jobless claims and other economic releases could change the market’s direction, but the pre-market weakness in the NASDAQ suggested continued pressure on technology shares.
Stephen Whiteside
Thursday, October 15, 2026
