Day Traders Diary

11/5/19

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly closing at a fresh record high thanks to strong economic data and new developments between the U.S. and China on trade.The Dow Jones gained 30 points at 27,492, its third straight positive day. The Nasdaq Composite was up a point at 8,434 while the S&P 500 fell 3 points to 3,074.67. The Dow was lifted by a 2% rally in Boeing as the CEO said he would forgo bonuses this year amid the 737 Max crisis. JP Morgan, Exxon, Walmart and McDonalds were higher as well.

Better-than-expected economic data helped lend support to the averages. The ISM non-manufacturing index came in at 54.7, as compared with a 53.5 estimate as forecast by economists polled by Dow Jones.

China is pushing President Donald Trump to remove more tariffs on about $125 billion worth of Chinese goods imposed in September as part of the "phase one" trade deal, reports said. "Firmer commitments on lifting tariffs" are needed for China to pay a visit to the U.S., according to the South China Morning Post.

The financial sector was the best-performing group among 11 S&P 500 sectors as yields continued to rise on trade-deal hopes. Bank of America was up 1.3%, while J.P. Morgan rose 0.2%.

The corporate earnings season has largely been better than expected as 75% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported topped analyst expectations, FactSet data shows. Adobe surged 5% after the software company issued better-than-expected guidance for fiscal year 2020.

Treasuries continue to retreat sending yields higher as the yield curve-steepens. The 2-yr yield rose four basis points to 1.63%, and the 10-yr yield rose eight basis points to 1.87%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.4% to 97.94. WTI crude rose 1.0%, or $0.55, to $57.24/bbl.