Day Traders Diary

9/26/14

Equity indices finished a cautious week on an upbeat note. The S&P 500 (+0.9%) and Nasdaq (+1.0%) reclaimed their 50-day moving averages, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.0%) was able to turn positive for the month (+0.1%). However, today's rally did not feature the same conviction as yesterday with just fewer than 620 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor versus Thursday's above-average total of 720 million.

The stock market received an early boost from heavily-weighted consumer discretionary (+1.1%) and technology (+1.2%) sectors. Both groups were underpinned by better than expected earnings with discretionary shares rallying behind Nike (NKE 89.50, +9.75), which surged 12.2%.

Elsewhere, the technology sector drew strength from chipmakers following an earnings beat from Micron (MU 33.84, +2.14). The stock jumped 6.8%, while the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index rose 1.3% to narrow its September loss to 0.3%. To be sure, large cap components also displayed strength with Apple (AAPL 100.75, +2.88) spiking nearly 3.0%.

Stocks were briefly pressured from their morning highs by the underperforming health care sector (+0.3%). The group could not catch up to the broader market amid weakness in hospital names like Tenet Healthcare (THC 60.75, -1.09), but biotechnology rallied with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 276.41, +2.44) advancing 0.9%.

The relative weakness in the health care space did not stand in the market's way during afternoon action as other influential groups like financials (+0.9%), industrials (+0.9%), and energy (+1.3%) picked up the slack. In the financial sector, Janus Capital (JNS 15.89, +4.78) soared 43.0% after it was announced Bill Gross will be joining the company following his departure from PIMCO.

For its part, the energy sector rebounded from its recent underperformance amid a 1.1% rise in crude oil. The energy component ended the pit session at $93.55/bbl to register a 2.2% gain for the week.

Treasuries slumped in the morning, but the rest of the session saw a divergence among different maturities. The 10-yr note settled near its low with its yield up three basis points at 2.53%, while the long bond returned to its flat line with its yield at 3.22%.

Also of note, the Dollar Index (85.63, +0.43) continued charging higher to extend this week's gain to 1.1%. The index will enter the final two sessions of the month after surging 3.6% so far in September.

On Monday, Personal Income (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) and Spending (consensus 0.4%) data for August will be reported at 8:30 ET alongside core PCE Prices (expected 0.0%). The day's data will be topped off with the Pending Home Sales report for August (consensus -0.2%).

Nasdaq Composite +8.0% YTD
S&P 500 +7.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +3.2% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.8% YTD

All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.