S&P 500 Index opens deep in red, stays above 3,550

• S&P 500 goes into consolidation after impressive rally.
• Investors don't seem to be paying any mind to mixed US data.
• Technology shares suffer heavy losses and weigh on Nasdaq Composite

After posting yet another record daily closing at 3,580 on Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index opened sharply lower on Thursday and was last seen losing 0.55% on the day at 3,560. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged on a daily basis at 29,090 and the Nasdaq Composite was losing 1.4% at 11,885.

Macroeconomic data releases from the US don't seem to be having a significant impact on market sentiment.

US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline by 130,000 to 881,000.

US: Trade deficit widens to $63.6 billion in July.

US: Unit Labor Costs rise by 9% in Q2 vs. 12.1% expected.

The S&P 500 Technology Index, which registered impressive gains during the risk rally witnessed in the first half of the week, is staging a deep correction and was last down nearly 2% on the day.

On the other hand, the defensive sectors, Utilities, Real Estate and Consumer Staples, are up between 0.7% and 0.3% in the early trade.

S&P 500 chart (daily)