Day Traders Diary

9/1/20

The major averages kicked off a historically tough month for the market on the right foot building on Wall Street's best August performance since the 1980s. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 127 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.3%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit all-time highs.

Apple led the gains in tech, rising 4.1%. The stock got a boost as several Wall Street analysts hiked their price targets on the tech giant. That gain came a day after the stock rose more than 3% following a stock split that appears to be causing investors to snap up the shares.

Walmart shares climbed more than 7% after the retailer announced it would launch its own membership program, Walmart+, later this month.

Shares of Zoom Video jumped 39% after reporting another blowout quarter. The video conferencing company's revenue more than quadrupled in the fiscal second quarter compared to a year ago. Tesla fell 3.6% after a regulatory filing revealed the company would sell up to $5 billion of its own stock.

The major averages also got a boost on Tuesday from better-than-expected manufacturing data out of the Institute for Supply Management. The final read on the August manufacturing PMI came in at 56, a 19-month high, as new orders hit their highest level since 2004.

The S&P 500 and the Dow just wrapped up their best August in more than 30 years. The blue-chip average rallied 7.6% in August for its fifth positive month in a row and its biggest August gain since 1984. The S&P 500 also rose for a fifth month straight, up 7%, clinching its best August since 1986.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 9.6% in August, posting its best monthly performance since 2000.

Recapping some other mega-cap moves, Walmart jumped 6% after officially introducing its Walmart+ membership program. Tesla fell 4.7% after issuing $5 billion in stock.

U.S. Treasuries ended the day higher after reclaiming overnight losses. The 2-yr yield declined two basis points to 0.11%, and the 10-yr yield declined two basis points to 0.67%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 92.34 after being down 0.4% in the morning. WTI crude futures increased 0.3%, or $0.14, to $42.76/bbl.