Day Traders Diary

6/8/15

The major averages began the new trading week on a cautious note with the S&P 500 (-0.7%) settling beneath its 100-day moving average (2,085) for the first time since late March. The benchmark index retreated into the afternoon while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.9%) underperformed throughout the day.

Broadly speaking, the Monday session was very quiet with no corporate news to account for the decline; however, the continued lack of progress between Greece and its creditors weighed on investor sentiment in Europe and the U.S.

As for Greece, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, today, describing the meeting as "very helpful." That being said, Bloomberg reported there appear to be growing differences between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mr. Schaeuble with regard to the handling of the crisis.

Interestingly, the S&P 500 climbed off its session low in the afternoon once the Wall Street Journal reported that Greece's creditors have offered to extend the current bailout program until March 2016. The extension would be achieved by drawing EUR11 billion from the bank bailout fund. The news helped the benchmark index make a brief return above its 100-day average before sliding to a new low ahead of the close.

Nine sectors registered losses with all six cyclical groups ending in the red. The largest sector by weight—technology (-1.2%)—lagged throughout the day, which kept a lid on the overall market. Top-weighted components like Apple (AAPL 127.80, -0.85), Microsoft (MSFT 45.73, -0.41), and Google (GOOGL 543.48, -6.05) lost between 0.7% and 1.1% while high-beta chipmakers also struggled. Shares of Intel (INTC 31.30, -0.54) settled lower by 1.7% while the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 1.9%.

Similarly, another high-beta group—transport stocks—kept the market under pressure with the Dow Jones Transportation Average losing 2.1%. The bellwether complex narrowed its June advance to 0.4% as all 20 components registered losses with JetBlue's (JBLU 19.02, -1.47) 7.2% plunge leading the way. For its part, the industrial sector (-0.7%) underperformed throughout the day.

Unlike technology and industrials, the remaining cyclical groups ended near the broader market while the four countercyclical sectors settled ahead of the S&P 500. Consumer staples (-0.1%) and telecom services (+0.2%) ended near their flat lines while health care (-0.4%) and utilities (-0.6%) settled just ahead of the broader market.

Interestingly, the utilities sector received no respite from today's strength in Treasuries that pressured the benchmark 10-yr yield to 2.39% (-2 bps).

Today's participation was on the light side with fewer than 685 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Tomorrow, the Wholesale Inventories report for April (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) and the April Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey will both be released at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +6.0% YTD

Russell 2000 +4.2% YTD

S&P 500 +1.0% YTD

Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.3% YTD