For most of Thursday the stock indexes were spinning sideways with a split bias, notes Jon Markman of Pivotal Point.

Cyclical issues lifted the Dow Jones Industrials Average to a record high while weakness for technology stocks sent the Nasdaq sharply lower.

In the last hour the entire scene came unglued, as falling techs pushed the Nasdaq lower by 3%, the S&P 500 -1.5%, and the Dow -0.5%, a monotonic smackdown.

There is critical support at the S&P 500’s 3,900 level and it should hold Friday. If it fails, the next support level is 3,858. Give bulls the benefit of doubt, for now.

Breadth favored decliners over advancers on Thursday 4-1. There were 796 new highs and 84 new lows. Topping the new highs list included JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS), Phillip Morris (PM), Deere (DE), and Altria Group (MO).

I hate to sound ageist, but this list sounds like a flashback to the 1980s when the market was last dominated by these geezers. Everyone who thought Biden’s first 100 days would be dominated by cigarette and farm equipment stocks, raise your hand.

We learned Wednesday that the Federal Reserve expects the US economy will grow by 6.5% this year versus its December estimate for an increase of 4.2%. Following a two-day policy meeting it said the unemployment rate is likely to drop to 4.5% versus its previous guidance of 5%.

"Our takeaway from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting was that policymakers did not just "double down" on dovish guidance, they "tripled down," a report from Morgan Stanley said. "The median FOMC participant now shares the view that core inflation will remain at or above 2% through 2023, but that alone is not enough to catalyze policymakers to begin thinking about rate hikes."

Initial jobless claims rose by 45,000 through Saturday to 770,000, the Department of Labor said on Thursday. The consensus in an Econoday poll was for a decrease to 700,000. The previous week's level was revised to 725,000 from 712,000, the government's data showed.

The US 10-year yield jumped by 1.75%, the highest level since January 2020. Crude oil prices slumped.

While JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) were among the top gainers on the Dow, the Nasdaq was pulled lower by Tesla (TSLA), down by 7% and Zoom Communications (ZM), which traded 6% lower.

In a new sign of dominance by financials, it appears merger mania is returning.

Insurer Chubb (CB) approached Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) for the latter's potential takeover, which Hartford later confirmed. Shares of Hartford gained 18.7%, while those of Chubb slipped 2.6%.

Learn more about Jon Markman at Pivotal Point.