Nasdaq-100 Threatens To Fall Below a Key Line In The Sand For The First Time In 2017

The Nasdaq-100 is flirting with a trade below its short-term trading average for the first time since early December, highlighting an unraveling in the once high-flying tech sector. The popular gauge that tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies trading on the Nasdaq Composite Index , including Facebook Inc. , Google Inc.-parent Alphabet Inc. , Amazon.com Inc. , Apple Inc. Netflix , the Nasdaq-100 is just a hair's breadth, at last check, from slipping below its 50-day moving average of 5,630.52, according to FactSet data. The index was most recently at 5,645, about 0.3% shy of dipping below that short-term trend line. Moving averages are often looked at by market technicians as a demarcation between a bullish and bearish trend. The Nasdaq-100 remains well above its 200-day moving average at 5,165. The Nasdaq Composite also is hovering around its 50-day MA, but the tech-heavy index dropped below that level mid-April only to resume its upward trend. Thursday's action represents an extending downtrend for technology names, with the Nasdaq-100 and the Nasdaq Composite set to end lower for four of the past five sessions. That trend has pressure the broader market lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 0.4%, and the S&P 500 index eyeing a 0.7% decline.