Day Traders Diary

6/30/20

The major averages rallied into the close as Wall Street wraps up its best quarterly performance in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 217 points, or 0.9%, to close at 25,812. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% to end the day at 3,100 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.9%. to 10,058. The major averages hit their session high with less than an hour left in the session.

The 30-stock Dow ended the second quarter with a 17.8% gain. That's the average's biggest quarterly rally since the first quarter of 1987, when it popped 21.6%. The S&P 500 had its biggest one-quarter surge since the fourth quarter of 1998, soaring nearly 20%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 30.6% for the quarter, its best quarterly performance since gain 1999.

Shares of Facebook and Netflix rose more than 2% each to lead the gains Tuesday while Amazon advanced 2.9%. Micron also contributed to the gains, climbing more than 4% following the company's better-than-expected earnings report. Micron also gave strong forward revenue guidance. Shares of Lululemon gained 6% on news it will acquire at-home fitness company Mirror for $500 million.

On the downside, Boeing fell 5.8% after Norwegian Air and BOC Aviation reportedly canceled plane orders from the company. Wells Fargo declined modestly after reducing their dividend following its stress test results.

Tuesday was also the last day of the month, with the major averages posting their third consecutive monthly gain. The Dow was up 1.7% for June. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 1.8% and 6%, respectively, month to date.

Separately, Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin testified before the House Financial Services Committee about the measures taken to support the economy. Market reaction was muted, as nothing new was particularly said.

U.S. Treasuries finished near their starting positions. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.15%, and the 10-yr yield increased two basis points to 0.65%. The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.2% to 97.38. WTI crude declined 1.0%, or $0.39, to $39.28/bbl.