Day Traders Diary

9/9/19

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its fourth straight gain on Monday amid more optimism around U.S.-China trade relations. The Dow finished up just 38 points after rising more than 100 points on the open. The S&P 500 closed unchanged while the Nasdaq dropped 15 points weighted down by the tech space outside Apple. The Russell 2000 climbed 1.3% to post its third gain in four sessions. The S&P 500 is only 1.6% from its record highs set in late July. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite entered the session more than 2% from their all-time highs.

The major indexes all started the session trading higher on reports China offered to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products if the U.S. eased restrictions on telecom giant Huawei. China's offer could also be contingent on the U.S. delaying higher tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese imports, the report said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday morning that China and the U.S. have a "conceptual agreement" on enforcement mechanisms around intellectual property theft.

Bank shares led the rally with J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America both up over 2%. Citigroup rose 4%. Treasury yields backed up once again with the 30 year over 2%, the highest level since August 13^th.  AT&T finished up 1.5%, after jumping 4% on the open on news Elliott Management bought a $3.2 billion stake in the telecom giant. In a letter to shareholders, Elliott said AT&T can "improve its business and realize a historic increase in value."