Day Traders Diary

7/15/20

The major averages rose once again on the back of positive coronavirus vaccine news and a blowout quarter from Goldman Sachs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 227 points or 0.9%, at 26,870. It was the Dow's fourth straight daily gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 3,226. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4% to end the day at 10,550. The Russell 2000 climbed 3.5% for its biggest one-day gain since early June.

Drug maker, Moderna rose 6% as their COVID-19 candidate elicited neutralizing antibodies in all 45 participants in a Phase 1 study. Goldman Sachs led the banks following a 93% surge in trading revenue for the quarter.

American Airlines, United Airlines, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines all popped more than 14%. Gap jumped 12.7% and Kohl's gained more than 9%. It was also a rotational trade, as cyclical, value, and small-cap stocks outperformed at the expense of mega-cap technology stocks like Amazon down 2%.

Some of that intraday selling was also attributed to pestering diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China and an inability of the S&P 500 to stay above its June 8 closing level. Florida and California each reported over 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 overnight.  

U.S. Treasuries finished mixed and little changed. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.14%, while the 10-yr yield increased two basis points to 0.63%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 96.06. WTI crude increased 2.2%, or $0.89, to $41.13/bbl.