Day Traders Diary

12/13/19

The major averages closed modestly higher on Friday after China and the U.S. agreed to a phase one trade deal as investors concluded a solid week of gains. The trade deal will include a rollback of some of the China tariffs and halts additional levies set to take effect on Sunday. China agreed to significant purchases of U.S. agricultural products, but the amount is below what the White House was reportedly pushing to get. On the U.S. side, investors were hoping for more than just a partial rollback of some tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day just 3 points higher at 28,135. The S&P 500 closed just above the flatline at 3,168 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 8,734. Earlier in the day, the major averages hit new record highs.

Apple led Friday's slight gains, rising 1.4% to a record after news of the trade agreement was announced. Some of the tariffs set to take effect Sunday would have impacted some of Apple's key products, including the iPhone.

Wall Street posted solid weekly gains in anticipation of the trade deal. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively while the Dow gained 0.4% this week.

The S&P 500 energy, materials and financial sectors pulled back, while the utilities and information technology sectors outperformed. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index pulled back pressured by a negative reaction to Broadcom's earnings report. Broadcom fell 3.7% while Oracle fell 3.5% on earnings as well. Adobe was a diamond up 3.9% on earnings.  

U.S. Treasuries reversed the bulk of yesterday's sell-off, driving yields noticeably lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield fell seven basis points to 1.60%, and the 10-yr yield fell eight basis points to 1.82%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 97.20. WTI crude rose 1.6%, or $0.93, to $60.11/bbl.