Day Traders Diary

11/26/19

The major averages continue to their upward trend thanks to a number of retailers lifting the major averages to fresh record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 55 points, or 0.2% at 28,121. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 3,140 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2% to 8,647.

Retailers rose broadly after Best Buy posted quarterly earnings that beat analyst expectations, sending its stock up more than 9%. The electronics retailer also raised its fiscal 2020 earnings forecast. Dick's Sporting Goods also rallied more than 18% on better-than-expected earnings.

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) climbed 0.6% while Amazon shares closed 1.3% higher. Retail's strong performance comes ahead of Black Friday, which unofficially marks the start of the holiday shopping season. Expectations for the season are high as the National Retail Federation expects sales to rise about 4%.

Tuesday's moves built on the previous session's rally that was sparked by optimism around the U.S.-China trade talks. The Dow rallied more than 150 points on Monday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced 0.8% and 1.3%, respectively.

China's ministry of commerce said Monday that the leaders of China and the U.S. spoke over the phone. "Both sides discussed resolving core issues of common concern, reached consensus on how to resolve related problems (and) agreed to stay in contact over remaining issues for a phase one agreement," the Chinese-language statement said, according to a CNBC translation.

U.S. Treasuries continued to increase, which sent yields slightly lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield declined three basis point to 1.58%, and the 10-yr yield declined two basis points to 1.74%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.1% to 98.23. WTI crude increased 0.6%, or $0.32, to $58.30/bbl.