Tech stocks could be in trouble as they approach levels not seen in nearly two months, according to BTIG chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky. The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 , on Thursday returned to its highest level since Dec. 18, the final day of the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting. That day, markets sold off after the central bank pointed toward fewer interest rate cuts in 2025. In the trading days following the FOMC meeting, there were only three sessions where the QQQ didn’t trade within the Dec. 18 intraday range of $515.01 and $536.88 — a 4% fluctuation. In effect, the QQQ has “just been digesting that massive move,” Krinsky wrote in a note Thursday. With the QQQ’s return to $536, near the mid-December high, the ETF has returned to the “scene of the crime,” Krinsky said. However, the technician warns that this move higher may soon be followed by a pullback. QQQ bar 2024-12-18 The Invesco QQQ fund traded at around a 4% intraday range on Dec. 18. On Thursday, the QQQ returned near its high on Dec. 18. “When price[s] return back to the ‘SOTC’, it often then reverses in the direction of that initial move. In this case that would be lower,” said Krinsky. “Fading Nasdaq strength has generally been a losers game over the last couple of years, but we think there are enough warning signs to suggest caution here,” Krinsky added. Meta, which has a 4% weight in the QQQ, has powered the fund on its way back those highs from about two months ago, Krinsky noted. The stock is up 6.4% in February alone. But if the stock were to undergo a correction, it would have a meaningful impact on the QQQ.
Tech stocks return to December ‘scene of the crime’, raising concern of another pullback, BTIG warns