Day Traders Diary

7/7/20

The major averages fell sharply, closing on the lows on concerns about the coronavirus outbreak dampening investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 396 or 1.5% giving up most of the gains from yesterday. The S&P 500 slid 1.1% while the Nasdaq Composite, which hit a record high earlier in the day, closed 0.9% lower. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 snapped five-day winning streaks. The Dow posted its first decline in three sessions.

Shares of Amazon fell 1.9% to lead tech lower. Netflix closed 0.1% lower after hitting a record earlier in the day. Microsoft, Apple and Facebook ended the session off their highs.

Stocks tied to the economy reopening from the coronavirus shutdowns were lower. Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Corp were lower by more than 2% each. American Airlines and United Airlines fell 5.2% and 5.7%, respectively.

Walmart was a bright rising 6% as the company plans to launch Walmart+ later this month as a competing delivery service to Amazon. Biotech, Novavax jumped 31% after announcing it received a $1.6 billion investment from the federal government to advance its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Separately, Atlanta Fed President Bostic cautioned in a Financial Times interview that economic activity appears to be leveling off due to the continued spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the cities of San

Francisco and Melbourne, Australia scaled back reopening efforts, joining many other local governments to do so.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries finished higher, causing some curve-flattening activity. The 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.16%, while the 10-yr yield declined three basis points to 0.65%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.3% to 97.00. WTI crude increased 0.2% to $40.60/bbl.