The S&P 500 is down about 4% from its recent highs. Given positive seasonality and strong earnings growth, this dip should be bought. Investors should consider buying the following 3 tech stocks: Paycom (NYSE:PAYC), Diodes (NASDAQ:DIOD), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).Overall, 2021 has been a very strong year for the stock market with the S&P 500 up 22% entering the last month of the year. Recently, the index has encountered a heavy bout of selling and is down nearly 3% from last Monday’s all-time high of 4,743.8.
A major reason for this dip is the omicron-variant of the coronavirus which has been identified in many countries. This variant is especially concerning as it seems to be more contagious than previous variants, and there are some reports that it may evade antibodies from existing vaccines. It’s also coming amid a backdrop of rising coronavirus cases which isn’t too surprising given its tendency to spread more in winter months and that travel volumes are currently running at 90% of 2019 levels.
Another catalyst was Fed Chair Powell’s remarks at Tuesday’s Congressional testimony in which he said that he would no longer describe the rise in inflation as being “transitory”. This caused a sharp selloff in the stock market and caused major averages to close below Friday’s lows.