Day Traders Diary

7/3/17

The major averages ended an abbreviated Monday session on a mixed note. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.5%) could not hold its opening gain and spent the session in a steady slide, preventing the broader S&P 500 (+0.2%) from finishing near its own opening high. The limited number of technology stocks in its composition helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) settle near its best level of the day, marking a fresh intraday record high (21562.75) in the process.

With the market closed on Tuesday for Independence Day, today's session was not expected to be particularly active. However, the daylong weakness in the technology sector (-0.9%) prevented the key indices from rising in unison. The top-weighted sector was a clear laggard while other decliners—consumer discretionary (-0.2%), consumer staples (-0.1%), and utilities (-0.5%)—ended closer to their flat lines.

The weakness in technology was not isolated to any single component. Instead, top-weighted names like Apple (AAPL 143.50, -0.52), Microsoft (MSFT 68.17, -0.76), and Alphabet (GOOGL 919.46, -10.22) began on a higher note, but slid into the close. High-beta chipmakers followed suit, sending the PHLX Semiconductor Index lower by 1.4%.

Unlike the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 remained in the green until the close as technology's underperformance was offset by gains among financials (+1.3%), industrials (+0.6%), and energy (+2.0%). Lightly-weighted sectors also chipped in with materials, real estate, and telecom services adding between 0.8% and 0.9%.

Industrials were underpinned by the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which gained 1.1% to end the day at a fresh record high while the energy sector followed crude oil, which jumped 1.5% to $46.73/bbl.

Elsewhere, the consumer discretionary sector finished among the laggards, but it worth noting that Ford (F 11.56, +0.37) and General Motors (GM 35.57, +0.64) posted respective gains of 3.3% and 1.8% even though both saw their June sales fall roughly 5.0% year-over-year. Toyota Motor (TM 106.03, +1.01) climbed 1.0% after reporting a 2.1% increase in sales while Honda Motor (HMC 27.41, +0.02) added 0.1% after announcing that its June sales grew 0.8%.

Treasuries held modest gains in early morning action, but slid into the afternoon. The bond market will remain open for another hour, but the 10-yr note is on track to finish in the red with its yield rising four basis points to 2.34%.

Today's economic data included May Construction Spending and June ISM:

• Total construction spending was basically flat in May (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) following an upwardly revised 0.7% decline (from -1.4%) for April. Nonresidential spending was up 0.3% month-over-month, so the drag in May was residential spending, which declined 0.5%.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that private residential spending was down in May, signaling that the housing market growth will continue to be pinched by limited supply.
• The ISM Manufacturing Index for June hit 57.8, which was above the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 55.0 and the highest level since August 2014. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0 and June marked the 10th consecutive month the ISM Index has been above 50.0.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that it featured a faster pace of new orders, which bodes well for future production and serves as a good sign of increased manufacturing demand.

Bond and equity markets will be closed tomorrow for Independence Day. On Wednesday, investors will receive the weekly MBA Mortgage Index at 7:00 ET while May Factory Orders will be reported at 10:00 ET. The FOMC will release the minutes from its June policy meeting at 14:00 ET.

• Nasdaq Composite +13.5% YTD
• S&P 500 +8.5% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average +8.7% YTD
• Russell 2000 +5.2% YTD