Nasdaq-100 closed 10.4% below its record on Monday, then rebounded to 9.75% below on Tuesday

The Nasdaq-100 closed at 27,989.82 on Monday, November 2, which is 10.36% below its record close of 31,224.69 on October 6 (computed), then gained 0.68% on Tuesday to 28,180.26, still 9.75% under the record (computed).

Monday's close fell below the 10% line, Tuesday's did not

A decline of 10% or more from a recent high is commonly called a correction. For the Nasdaq-100 the line sat at 28,102.22, which is 90% of the October 6 record (computed). The index closed below it on Monday at 27,989.82, according to the series that the St. Louis Fed publishes from Nasdaq data, and that was the lowest close since the record.

Tuesday's close of 28,180.26 was 78.04 points above the line (computed). On Nasdaq's own index page the Tuesday gain is listed as 190.44 points, or 0.68%. The line is a convention, not a rule, and the index moved back above it after one close beneath it.

Three sessions took 4.8% off the index

The slide came in three steps. The index closed at 29,402.51 on Thursday, October 29. It fell 3.46% on Friday, October 30, to 28,384.85, and another 1.39% on Monday to 27,989.82 (all computed from the series). Over those three sessions the Nasdaq-100 lost 4.80% (computed).

Close	Nasdaq-100	Change from October 6 record
Thursday, October 29	29,402.51	-5.84%
Friday, October 30	28,384.85	-9.09%
Monday, November 2	27,989.82	-10.36%
Tuesday, November 3	28,180.26	-9.75%

Source: St. Louis Fed series NASDAQ100; Tuesday's close also on Nasdaq's index page. Changes computed.

Other indexes sit closer to their highs

The Nasdaq Composite closed at 25,164.36 on Monday, 8.82% below its October 6 record of 27,599.89 (computed), and at 25,372.01 on Tuesday, according to the St. Louis Fed series. The S&P 500 closed at 7,541.40 on Monday, 3.55% below its October 6 record of 7,818.93 (computed), per its series; that series had no Tuesday value when this article was written. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,786.72 on Tuesday, according to its series, 4.71% below its record of 54,349.12 on August 5 (computed).

Earlier FinanceInTime coverage traced the October pullback to the Nasdaq: see Nasdaq's October loss was nearly six times the S&P 500's and the October 26 analysis.

We would watch whether the S&P 500 follows the Nasdaq-100 down

We think the label matters less than the gap it reveals. The Nasdaq-100 is 9.75% below its high while the S&P 500 was 3.55% below on Monday, so the decline is still concentrated in the largest growth stocks rather than spread across the market. That is a threat for portfolios built around them and, for the same reason, an opportunity for those whose gains came from outside the index.

We expect the next signal to come from breadth: if the S&P 500 moves toward its own 10% line, the correction is becoming a market-wide repricing, and we would read it as more serious. If the Nasdaq-100 holds above 28,102.22 on closing prices for several sessions while the Dow stays near current levels, we would read Monday as a test of the line that failed to break it. A single close on either side of 10% is weak evidence, and we would change our mind on seeing a rise in volatility that outlasts the index's bounce.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.