Day Traders Diary

4/2/20

The major averages went on a roller-coaster ride today finishing up over 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 469 points or 2.2%, at 21,413. The S&P 500 rose 2.3% at 2,526 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7% to 7,487. At its session high, the Dow was up 534 points, or more than 2%.

Today's rally was sparked by oil's biggest one-day rally on hopes of easing tensions between Saudi Arabian/Russian price war. Chevron and Exxon Mobil led the Dow higher, gaining 11% and 7.7%, respectively. The S&P 500 energy sector rallied 9.1%.

The day started on a negative note with the Labor Department reporting more than 6 million people filed for unemployment benefits in the week of March 27, a record. Economists expected another 4 million to 5 million workers filed for jobless claims last week as coronavirus-related shutdowns roll through the country.

Thursday's wild moves follow the market suffered steep losses in the previous session. The major averages all fell more than 4% on Wednesday, pressured by comments from Trump, who said the U.S. should prepare for a "very, very painful two weeks." White House officials are projecting between 100,000 and 240,000 virus deaths in the U.S.

In corporate news, Walgreens Boots Alliance fell 6% as the company's cautious tone regarding its outlook outweighed its better-than-expected quarterly results.

U.S. Treasuries finished mixed and little changed. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.23%, while the 10-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.63%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.5% to 100.19.