Stock market news for June 21, 2024

The S&P 500 ticked lower Friday as shares of market bellwether Nvidia pulled back for a second day.

The broad market index fell 0.16% to finish at 5,464.62, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.18% to settle at 17,689.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 15.57 points, or 0.04% to close at 39,150.33.

“Technology stocks continue to be in the spotlight,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “I can’t remember a time when one single stock … has been so influential on the market, and that’s really been a key driver of the market action as of late.”

Nvidia shares declined 3.2%. On Thursday, the stock hit an all-time high before closing more than 3% lower. Nonetheless, the chipmaker is still up 155% year to date, and it briefly beat Microsoft as the most valuable public company on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 notched an intraday record of 5,505.53 earlier in the week, and it registered a 0.6% weekly advance. The Nasdaq finished the week flat, while the Dow rose 1.45% for its best weekly performance since May.

Some signs of an overextended market have begun to appear in recent sessions, although it’s unclear whether the artificial intelligence-fueled rally has reached its limits. Even Nvidia, which is large enough to sway the market, is showing signs that its upward momentum may be slowing.

“It’s probably not a bad time to take some chips off the table,” said Dave Grecsek, a managing director at Aspiriant. “We’ve had a magnificent run, and the market is looking a little extended.”

The total U.S. market saw its highest trading volume since March 15, due to the triple witching — that is, the expiration of stock options, stock index options and stock index futures options.

That mid-March day happens to be the same date as the last triple witching.