Day Traders Diary

2/7/20

The major averages pulled back to end the week after making new highs for the year. Worries over the coronavirus' impact on the Chinese economy outweighed the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 277 points or nearly 1%, at 29,102. The S&P 500 dipped 0.5% to 3,327 while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.5% to close at 9,520. Those losses snapped a four-day winning streak for the major average. The major averages did close higher for the week with the S&P 500 gaining more than 3%, its best weekly performance since early June. The Dow climbed 3% for the week while the Nasdaq gained 4%.

China's National Health Commission on Friday confirmed 31,131 cases of the deadly pneumonia-like virus in the country, with 636 deaths. These numbers have stoked worries about how China's economy slowing here in the first quarter. Chinese economic slowed to 6.1% growth in 2019 down from 6.8% in 2018.

The major averages reached record highs on Thursday boosted by China's decision to halve tariffs on a slew of U.S. products. The world's second-largest economy announced it would halve tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. imports on Thursday.

Notable earnings gainers today include Uber up 9.5%, AbbVie up 5.9% and the T-Mobile US up 3.2%. The laggards include Take-Two Interactive down 11.9%, Canadian Goose down 4% and Wynn Resorts down 5%. The latter two were down due to the Chinese coronavirus.

In other corporate news, FedEx rose 4.7% after saying it is optimizing last-mile residential deliveries that will drive costs lower. Intercontinental Exchange rose 2.8% after saying it will no longer explore strategic opportunities with eBay. eBay closed down 47%.

U.S. Treasuries finished on a higher note amid the negative bias in the stock market. The 2-yr yield declined six basis points to 1.39%, and the 10-yr yield declined seven basis points to 1.58%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 98.69. WTI crude fell 1.2%, or $0.62, to $50.35/bbl.