Day Traders Diary

8/11/20

Turnaround Tuesday as the major averages fell into the red after starting the day on a up note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 104 points after rallying as much as 350 points moving above 28,000 for the first time since February. The S&P 500 finished down 26 points or 0.8% closing lower for the first time in eight days. The Nasdaq Composite remains the lagged the last three days down 1.1% today.

The markets got off to a good note this morning on news Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the country had given regulatory approval for the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. While there was skepticism about the Russian development, the news triggered optimism from investors about the race for an inoculation as economically sensitive stocks performed well.

The late-day selling was attributed to comments from Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY), who told Fox News that White House officials have yet to reconvene with congressional Democrats regarding fiscal relief for households and businesses. The news appeared to be a good excuse to tame the market as the S&P 500 came within 0.4% of its all-time high today.

Growth and defensive-oriented stocks saw increased selling that weighed on the S&P 500 information technology, utilities, real estate and communication services sectors. Conversely, the financials and industrials sectors managed to close higher due to their perceived value.

Notably, U.S. Treasuries and precious metals succumbed to sizable pullbacks. The 2-yr yield increased three basis points to 0.16%, while the 10-yr yield increased eight basis points to 0.66% -- this curve-steepening activity was a boon for the financial stocks. Gold futures fell 4.5% to $1946.90/ozt. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 93.72. WTI crude futures declined 0.7% to $41.66/bbl.