The Nasdaq Composite Index fell firmly below its 100=day moving average, as the stock market took a firmer turn lower in Friday afternoon trade. The technology-laden benchmark was recently down 1.5% at 7,060, which is well below its 100-day moving average at 7,083.35, according to FactSet data. A break below that level, which it hasn’t breached since Feb. 9, is viewed as a bearish sign. Market technicians use moving averages to help assess long-term and short-term momentum in an asset. The Nasdaq fell more than 2% yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 700 points in a broad rout of equities amid heightened concerns about the fallout of recently announced tariffs on China imports. The index is still well above its 200-day MA at 6,726,53. Wall Street has viewed tariffs as a risk to U.S. economic expansion, which has been growing since the second quarter of 2009. The Nasdaq has been an outperformer among its equity benchmarks so far this year, with the index up 2.1%, compared with a 4.1% year-to-date loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a decline of 2.8% for the S&P 500 index .
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