Day Traders Diary

6/5/20

The major averages finished a stellar week on Wall Street with a more than 2% rally on Friday due to a surprisingly good jobless claim number raising hopes the economy is starting to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nasdaq Composite became the first of the three major averages to climb back to an all-time high, advancing 2.0%, or 198 points, to 9,814. After tumbling as much as 25% earlier this year, the tech-heavy index is now 9.3% higher for 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 829 points, or 3.1%, to 27,110. The S&P 500 rose 2.6%, or 81 points, to 3,193.

Friday's rally put the S&P 500 down just 1.1% for 2020. At one point this year, the broader market index was down 30.3%. The Dow was only down 5.0% year to date after dropping as much as 34.6% in 2020.

The Dow was up 6.8% for the week, while the S&P 500 gained 4.9% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 3.4%.

U.S. employers added a shocking 2.5 million jobs last month — the largest gain on record — while the unemployment rate slid to 13.3%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a drop of more than 8 million jobs and the unemployment rate to nearly reach 20%, which would have been the highest since the 1930s.

Investors continued to pile into value-oriented stocks like Boeing up 11% for the day and up 41% for the week. Tech heavyweight favorites like Apple rose 2.9% setting a new all-time high today. The continued rise in oil prices up 5% to $39.50 a barrel ahead of an OPEC+ meeting next weekend continued to attract buyers into the energy sector. In the semiconductor space, Broadcom rose 2.7% on earnings and in-line guidance. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.6% closing at a record high.

U.S. Treasuries ended the session with losses, especially on the longer-end of the curve. The 2-yr yield increased two basis points to 0.21%, while the 10-yr yield increased eight basis points to 0.90% -- its highest level since March 20. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.3% to 97.00.