Day Traders Diary

4/28/20

The major averages sold off into the close snapping a 4-day winning streak as big tech shares led the decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially rose 300 points, but finished down 32 points at 24101. The S&P 500 lost 15 points or 0.5% while the Nasdaq declined 1.4% led by Alphabet down 3%.  Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon fell over 2%. Apple declined 1.6%.

Wall Street is coming off strong gains on Monday, with the Dow closing above 24,000 for the first time since April 17. Monday's gains also put the S&P 500 on pace for its biggest one-month gain since 1987 with an 11.4% surge in April. Much of the optimism is due to partial reopening of the U.S. economy — in Alaska, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and others.  

On the earnings news, Caterpillar, Pepsi and 3M were modestly higher following results while UPS dropped 6%, faltering after the company missed profit estimates.

U.S. Treasuries reclaimed most of yesterday's losses, driving yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield declined three basis points to 0.20%, and the 10-yr yield declined five basis points to 0.61%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 99.88. WTI crude declined 4.6%, or $0.60, to $12.37/bbl, although it was down as much as 22% at one point during the session.