Day Traders Diary

8/13/19

The major averages soared midday after the U.S. decided to delay tariffs on certain Chinese goods while outright removing some items from the tariff list, reigniting hopes Washington and Beijing could reach a long-term resolution.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 372 points or 1.44%, at 26,279. The S&P 500 rose 42 points or 1.48% to 2,926 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.95% higher to 8,016, led by Apple up more than 4%.

The United States Trade Representative announced Tuesday certain products including clothing and cellphones are being removed from the tariff list based on "health, safety, national security and other factors" and will not face additional tariffs of 10%. Other tariffs will be delayed to Dec. 15 from Sep. 1^st.

Beside tech stocks, retailers cheered the potential delayed rise in costs for apparel and electronics. Best Buy soared more than 6%, while Nike jumped 2% and Nordstrom also rose nearly 2%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF rose 1.6%.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors rose today with oil prices rising 4%. Nine sectors advanced at least 1.0%, led by the information technology up 2.5%, consumer discretionary up 1.7%, and communication services up 1.5% sectors. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 3.0%.

The increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong and a crash in the Argentine peso also drove investors to perceived "safe haven" assets such as U.S. bonds, gold, and the Japanese yen.

The 2-yr yield increased nine basis points to 1.67%, and the 10-yr yield increased four basis points to 1.68%. The general risk-on mood helped the market overlook the continued compression in yields. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.5% to 97.82

China once again fixed its yuan midpoint at 7.0326 per dollar on Tuesday, the fourth consecutive session where the People's Bank of China set the figure at a level weaker than the psychologically 7-yuan-per-dollar level.