Day Traders Diary

5/28/20

The major averages closed lower for the first time this week erasing solid gains earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 147 points, or 0.6%, at 25,400. At its session high, the Dow was up 210 points. The S&P 500 slid 0.2% to 3,029 giving back a jump of 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% to 9,368.99. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both snapped three-day winning streaks.

President Donald Trump said he would be giving a news conference Friday regarding China while he is also looking to curb censorship on social media sites.

Trump's announcement came after China's National People's Congress approved a national security bill for Hong Kong. The bill will bypass Hong Kong's legislature, raising concerns over the longevity of Hong Kong's "one party, two systems" principle, which allows additional freedoms mainland China does not have.

Tech stocks have been weak this week. Facebook and Netflix fell more than 1% each while Amazon and Alphabet posted small losses. Bank stocks gave back some of their strong gains for the week. Citigroup dropped 5.9% while Bank of America declined by 4.3%. Wells Fargo dipped 2.6% and JPMorgan Chase slipped 1.5%.

On the earnings front, Workday rose 7% and Dollar Tree rose 11%. HPQ slid 12% on disappointing results. 

The Labor Department said Thursday another 2.1 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That's more than a Dow Jones estimate of 2.05 million. To be sure, the pace of new filings has dropped from previous weeks. Continuing claims, which represent a better unemployment picture, plunged by nearly 4 million in their first decline since the coronavirus outbreak.

U.S. Treasuries ended the session mixed. The 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.17%, while the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 0.71%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.6% to 98.50. WTI crude futures rose 2.7%, or $0.89, to $33.68/bbl.