Wall Street Momentum Stalled by Tech Sector Rotation

Stocks are slumping to start December, as the tech sector rotation resumes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is off by triple digits midday, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 are also comfortably in the red, with all three major indexes on track to snap five-day win streaks. Bitcoin (BTC) is down more than 6% at last check, dampening risk-on sentiment. As far as economic data is concerned, the Institution for Supply Management (ISM) showed factory activity in the U.S. contracted in November to 48.2%, with new orders, backlogs, and deliveries all dropping.

Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) is seeing notable options activity today. At last check, 108,000 calls have changed hands, volume that's almost double the average intraday amount and nearly five times the number of puts exchanged. Most of this activity is centered around the weekly 12/5 18-strike call, though the January 2026 25- and 16-strike calls are also popular. Rivian stock is up 2% to trade at $17.02 today, heading for a sixth-straight win and bringing its year-to-date gain to nearly 30%. 

Semiconductor name Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE:WOLF) stock is shrugging off the tech sector struggles today, last seen up 5% to trade at $21.30. The company is buzzing after receiving $698.6 million in Section 48D cash tax refunds from the IRS. Wolfspeed filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late June and completed its financial restructuring on Sept. 29. For the current quarter, the shares carry a 25.3% deficit.  

Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) is near the bottom of the Nasdaq today, last seen down 3.5% to trade at $242.61, after Bernstein downgraded the cybersecurity stock to "underperform" from "outperform." The analyst in coverage expressed concerns about a crowded playing field and lack of expansion beyond cloud-centric network cybersecurity. Year to date, ZS is up 34.7%, and but today's drop has breached the shares' 260-day moving average.