Day Traders Diary

9/11/19

The major averages finished near the highs on Patriot's Day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 227 points, or 0.85% at 27,137, posting its first six-day winning streak since June. Wednesday's session also marked its first close above 27,000 since July 30. The Dow is now less than 1% from its all-time high reached July 16. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to close at 3,000, its highest level since late July. The broad index also ended the day less than 1% from a record high set on July 26. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1% to 8,169, its best close since July 31.

Apple led the averages higher, closing up 3.2%. The tech giant unveiled three new iPhones on Tuesday along with a new Apple Watch and a TV subscription service. Apple also showcased a gaming subscription called Apple Arcade and received a plethora of upgrades.

The continued rise in Treasury yields reflected some of the improved sentiment on Wall Street, as investors showed less interest for the safe-haven asset. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 1.67%, and the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 1.73%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.3% to 98.62.

Energy was an underperformer as oil took a hit on reports that President Trump was in talks to ease sanctions on Iran. OPEC also downgraded its forecasts for oil demand in 2019 and 2020.