Day Traders Diary

6/16/15

The stock market ended the Tuesday session on an upbeat note with the S&P 500 adding 0.6%. In addition to posting a solid gain, the benchmark index reclaimed its 100-day moving average (2,089) after settling below that mark on Monday.

Equity indices began the day near their flat lines and rallied throughout the day, unperturbed by the lack of progress between Greece and its creditors. Furthermore, the rhetoric in Athens intensified with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras saying the International Monetary Fund bears "criminal" responsibility for the current state of the Greek economy. Mr. Tsipras' remarks were made in front of the Greek parliament with the premier adding that another round of elections is not in the cards.

Similar to U.S. equities, European stocks were able to rally despite the lack of positive developments. Meanwhile, Germany's 10-yr bund climbed, sending its yield lower by three basis points to 0.80% while the U.S. 10-yr note also rallied with its yield slipping four basis points to 2.32%.

All ten sectors posted gains with consumer staples (+1.1%) leading the advance. The sector rebounded from yesterday's underperformance amid broad strength while other countercyclical groups ended mixed with respect to the broader market. Similar to consumer staples, the telecom services sector (+0.8%) outperformed while health care (+0.5%) and utilities (+0.4%) settled behind the broader market.

The health care sector ended a bit behind the S&P 500 with biotechnology contributing to the underperformance. Still, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 364.38, +0.70) added 0.2%.

Moving to the cyclical side, the top-weighted technology sector (+0.6%) outperformed throughout the session while three of the remaining five growth-sensitive groups also displayed relative strength. The energy sector (+0.8%) rallied alongside crude oil, which rose 0.8% to $60.00/bbl.

Also of note, the industrial sector (+0.1%) turned positive during the late afternoon, but still ended behind the remaining nine sectors as transport stocks weighed. The Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 0.3%, extending this week's decline to 0.8%. United Continental (UAL 51.23, -1.02) was the weakest performer, falling 2.0%, while Con-way (CNW 40.30, -0.96) lost 1.6% after peer Oshkosh (OSK 46.71, -3.59) lowered its guidance.

Once again, today's participation was below average with roughly 640 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to Housing Starts and Building Permits:

Housing starts declined 11.1% in May to 1.036 million from an upwardly revised 1.165 million (from 1.135 million) in April while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 1.100 million 

In April, housing starts rose 22.1%, which was a historic, multi-decade high. It was only natural for housing starts to pull back following such a large increase

Even after the decline, May starts were above Q1 averages (978,000) and in-line with trends from Q4 2014 (1.055 million)

Building permits rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.275 million in May from a revised 1.140 million for April (from 1.143 million) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 1.100 million

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the latest FOMC policy statement will be released at 14:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +6.8% YTD

Russell 2000 +5.4% YTD

S&P 500 +1.8% YTD

Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.5% YTD