Day Traders Diary

9/19/19

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up a 100-point gain and finished in the red as investors checked their optimism about renewed U.S.-China trade talks. The Dow Jones finished down 52 points while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed modestly higher. Microsoft and UnitedHealth balanced losses in Boeing and Walt Disney in the Dow. Microsoft rose nearly 2% with a market cap over a trillion once again after announcing a $40 billion share buyback and an 11% dividend hike.

Equities trimmed their earlier gains after a state-backed Chinese media report said that known China hawk and Trump advisor Michael Pillsbury warned the U.S. is ready to escalate the trade war if a deal isn't struck soon. Stocks continued to pare gains after a tabloid editor at the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China tweeted that China was in no rush to make a trade deal with the U.S.

In Corp news, U.S. Steel dropped 11% after lowering third quarter guidance, making it the third steel company to lower guidance in three days. Darden Restaurants lost 5% despite beating earnings estimates.

U.S. Treasuries finished slightly higher, pushing yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield and 10-yr yield both declined one basis point to 1.74% and 1.77%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 98.35. WTI crude ticked up 0.1%, or $0.05, to $58.12/bbl.