Day Traders Diary

1/12/16

The stock market ended its volatile Tuesday affair on a positive note, with the S&P 500 advancing 0.8%. The stock market fixated on oil prices today after mostly quiet overseas sessions. Despite the moderate advance, the rally remained muted for most of the day thanks to ongoing commodity concerns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (+1.0%) outperformed the benchmark index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%).

Oil rested on its overnight low until reports of a terrorist attack in Turkey pushed the energy-component higher. WTI crude was able to mount a rally into the U.S. open, but was unable to maintain that momentum. Declines in oil were mirrored across equities for the most of the day as WTI crude ended its pit session lower by 3.1% at $30.44/bbl. However, the energy component climbed in electronic trade and the stock market rallied alongside.

On the leaderboard, technology (+1.2%), health care (+1.2%), consumer discretionary (+1.0%), and industrials (+0.7%) lead the pack. On the flipside, energy utilities (-0.5%), telecom services (-0.4%), materials (+0.2%), energy (+0.4%), and consumer staples (+0.5%) underperformed.

In the heavily-weighted technology sector, large-cap components saw relative strength with increased buying interest following the recent selloff. Cornerstones,  Alphabet (GOOGL 745.34, +12.27), Facebook (FB 99.37, +1.86), and Apple (AAPL 99.96, +1.43) sported advances between 1.5% and 1.9%. Elsewhere in the space, the high-beta chipmakers ended in liine with the broader market, evidenced by the 0.8% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor index. Inside the index Intel (INTC 32.68, +0.62) outperformed with a gain of 1.9% thanks to resumed coverage at JPMorgan Chase with an 'Overweight' designation.

Looking at the consumer discretionary space, large-cap constituents there also showed relative strength with Starbucks (SBUX 59.46, +1.64) rising 2.8% after the company announced that it's on pace to have 2000 stores in China after looking to add 500 in 2016. Other influential sector members like Disney (DIS 101.46, +1.54) and Netflix (NFLX 116.58, +1.61) added 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively.

Switching to health care , the insurance sub-sector lead the space with Anthem Inc. (ANTM 135.60, +7.24), UnitedHealth Group (112.26, +2.68), and Aetna (AET 109.15, +4.08) outperforming with gains between 2.5% and 5.6%. Elsewhere in the group, biotechnology paced the advance evidenced by the 1.6% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 296.21, +4.52).

Treasuries ended just below their highs with the 10-yr yield slipping seven basis points to 2.10%.

Trading volume remained heavy with more than a billion shares changing hands at the NYSE floor once again.

On the economic front, the November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased to 5.431 million from October's revised 5.349 million figure (from 5.383 million).

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET while the Federal Reserve's January Beige Book and the December Treasury Budget will cross the wires at 14:00 ET.

Russell 2000 -8.1% YTD

Nasdaq  -6.4% YTD

S&P 500 -5.2%

Dow Jones Industrial Average -5.2%