Day Traders Diary

7/11/20

The major averages rose throughout the day on news of improving drug treatments raising hopes for an economic recovery following the recent resurgence in Covid-19 outbreaks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 369 points or 1.4% to 26,075. The S&P 500 climbed 1%, or 32 points, to 3,185. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%, or 69 points, to another record closing high of 10,617.44, lifted by Amazon and Netflix.

Gilead Sciences said its coronavirus treatment candidate, remdesivir, showed an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62% reduction in the risk of mortality compared with standard care. The news sent Gilead shares up more than 2%. BioNTech's CEO also told The Wall Street Journal the company's coronavirus vaccine candidate could be ready for approval by December.

Netflix jumped 8% to a record after Goldman said it now sees a 30% rally over the next 12 months for the company. Amazon also gained 0.5% to an all-time high after Citi hiked its target on the e-commerce giant to a Street high of $3,550 per share.

JPMorgan was the biggest gainer in the 30-stock Dow, jumping 5.4%. Dow-component Goldman Sachs rose 4.4%. Meanwhile, Citigroup and Wells Fargo rallied 6.4% and 5.9%, respectively. Big banks are set to kick off earnings season next week.

Carnival jumped 10% as the company noted an increase in demand for new bookings in 2021, feeding the reopening trade and outweighing its mixed earnings results.

Friday's gains put the Dow up 0.9% for the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 1.7% and 4% in that time period. For the year, the Dow and the S&P 500 are down 8.6% and 1.4%, respectively, while the Nasdaq is up more than 18%.

U.S. Treasuries backed off from early morning highs following the remdesivir update, sending yields higher. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.16%, and the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 0.63% after touching 0.57% in overnight action. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.1% to 96.63. WTI crude rose 2.1%, or $0.94, to $40.57/bbl.