Bespoke Investment Group says that even though Nvidia Corp. has been doing very well lately, semiconductor stocks are still not doing very well compared to the S&P 500.
The S&P 500 SPX hit a new high of 5,792.04 on Wednesday, up 0.7%. Shares of Nvidia NVDA, a big name in semiconductors, ended the day down 0.2%, bringing their October gain down to 9.2%.
“The technical picture may be getting better for Nvidia, but the picture for the semiconductor sector isn’t as strong,” Bespoke wrote in an email on Wednesday. The “Philadelphia Semiconductor Index” has been “stuck at resistance all summer,” the company wrote, even though it has risen above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
Looking at the semiconductor index, “September’s selloff was deeper than August’s relative to the S&P 500, and the subsequent bounce back has also been weaker,” Bespoke found.
FactSet data shows that the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, which trades under the symbol SOX, went up 1.1% by the end of the day on Wednesday, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXQ went up 1%.
“One good thing for the sector is that the selloff in early September wasn’t as bad as it was in August,” Bespoke said, adding that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index “may not yet be at the point of making higher highs, but there has been a higher low.”
Also on Wednesday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX went up 1%. This is an exchange-traded fund that follows an index of U.S.-listed semiconductor stocks.
The ETF’s shares are down 9.4% over the last three months as of Wednesday, even though they are up 2% so far in October. The S&P 500, on the other hand, has gone up 3.9% in the last three months, according to FactSet statistics.
The U.S. stock market as a whole went up on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP went up 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA went up a sharp 1% to end the day at an all-time high.
According to FactSet, the iShares Semiconductor ETF has gained 22.5% so far this year, while the S&P 500 has gained 21.4% as of Wednesday.
