Day Traders Diary

5/11/20

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed in the green even as the Dow remained in the red on nervousness the reopening of the economy could cause additional outbreaks of COVID-19, especially after reports pointed to an uptick in cases in Germany and South Korea.

The Dow finished down 109 points at 24,221. The S&P 500 closed up 39 cents at 2930 while the Nasdaq rose 71 points or 0.78% to 9,192, marking its longest winning streak since an 11-day run back in December. For the year, the Nasdaq is up 2.4%, trading 6% below its record high set in February.

Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all rose more than 1%, posting their sixth consecutive day of gains. Netflix jumped 1.4%, while Google parent Alphabet climbed 1.4%. NVIDIA rose 3% set a new all-time high after its price target was raised to $350 from $270 at Needham.

The markets got a lift in midday on news New York Governor Cuomo said he will end state-wide restrictions this Friday, allowing for the re-opening of some low-risk businesses.

Drug company, Quidel also lent support to the markets after receiving FDA approval for its antigen test for COVID-19. Health care stocks saw the biggest gains following the antigen news, evidenced by the 1.7% advance in the S&P 500 health care sector.

The most influential gains, though, came from the mega-cap technology stocks within the information technology (+0.7%), communication services (+0.1%), and consumer discretionary (+0.1%) sectors.

The S&P 500, which was nearing its April high (2954.86), did falter into the close, pressured by widening losses in the growth-oriented financials (-1.9%), energy (-1.7%), materials (-1.5%), and industrials (-1.3%) sectors.

U.S. Treasuries started the day little changed but steadily declined during the rebound in stocks. The 2-yr yield increased four basis points to 0.18%, and the 10-yr yield increased four basis points to 0.72%. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.5% to 100.19. WTI crude lost 1.1%, or $0.25, to $24.46/bbl despite news that Saudi Arabia is planning to cut June output by an additional 1 million barrels per day.