Day Traders Diary

1/29/20

The major averages closed little changed on Wednesday even after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and struck an upbeat tone on the health of the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 11 points at 28,734 after rising as much as 221 points earlier in the session. The Nasdaq closed up 5 points while the S&P 500 fell 2 points.

On the earnings front, Apple led the markets with a 2% rally following a strong quarter thanks to strong holiday sales. Other stocks that finished higher on earnings include Boeing up 1.7%, General Electric up 10.3%, Dow up 5.3%, Norfolk Southern up 4.9% and McDonald's up 1.9%.

To the downside AT&T closed down 3%, AMD was down 6%, Xilinx down 10%, Hess down 6% and Starbucks down 2% on earnings.

Separately, the coronavirus was mentioned by Fed Chair Powell. Mr. Powell said the Fed is closely monitoring the situation but said it's still too early to assess its impact on global economies.

The Federal Open Market Committee held the overnight benchmark rate in a range between 1.5% and 1.75%, as expected. Demand for Treasuries steadily increased after the Fed's policy directive. The 2-yr yield declined four basis points to 1.42%, and the 10-yr yield declined five basis points to 1.59%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.1% to 98.11. WTI crude declined 0.1% to $53.36/bbl.