Day Traders Diary

6/19/20

The major averages finish lower reversing previous gains as a number of headlines raise concerns about a resurgence in the coronavirus and a slowdown in the economy's recovery

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down 208 points, or 0.8%, at 25,871 after gaining as much as 371 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 traded 0.5% lower, or 17 points to 3,096 after dropping 1.2% at one point. The Nasdaq Composite finished the session up 3 points at 9,946.

All three major averages posted modest weekly gains. The S&P 500 gained 1.8% on the week, its fourth positive week in five. The 30-stock Dow rose 1% this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, rising 3.7% this week.

Apple said it's reclosing a total of 11 stores in Florida, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina. All of the stores had been re-opened since Apple initially closed them in March amid the outbreak. Shares of the tech giant traded 1.5% lower on the news. Earlier in the day, they hit an all-time high.

Shares of cruise line operators took a leg down after the Cruise Lines International Association announced suspension of cruise operations from U.S. ports, citing the ongoing situation with the pandemic. Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean dropped more than 7% each, while Carnival fell 6%.

Arizona and Florida reported record spikes in confirmed Covid-19 cases on Friday as states continue their phased reopenings and ramping up testing. Meanwhile, California on Thursday reported more than 4,000 new cases in a single day, the highest daily number ever.

Trading was highly volatile ahead of the S&P 500′s first rebalancing of 2020 at Friday's close, which came more than three months after the market's wild swings forced S&P Dow Jones Indices to delay this traditional quarterly event. Friday also coincided with the so-called quadruple witching, when options and futures on indexes and stocks expire.

In corporate news, CarMax fell 6%, one of the weakest performers in the S&P 500, after the company provided mixed earnings results. Ford Motor closed modestly lower as the company said they will return to full production on Monday, which is two weeks ahead of schedule.

U.S. Treasuries ended the session near their flat lines after trading lower in early action. The 2-yr yield and the 10-yield remained unchanged at 0.19% and 0.70%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.3% to 97.67. WTI crude rose 2.5% (+$0.95) to $39.74/bbl.