Day Traders Diary

10/22/20

The major averages rose today as traders weighed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's latest remarks on the U.S. fiscal stimulus negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 152 points or 0.54% after falling 170 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 finished up 17 points or 0.52% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 21 points or 0.19%.

Banks led the gains on Thursday as the 10-year Treasury yield hit a four-month high. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley popped 3.4% and 2.6%, respectively. Citigroup advanced 1.9%.

On the earnings front AT&T, CSX, Coke, Dow and Tesla rose after beating estimates. Tesla reported its fifth straight quarter of profits, posting per-share earnings of 76 cents versus the consensus estimate of 57 cents.

To the downside Chipotle, Union Pacific and Kimberly Clark closed lower on earnings. Some of the sell off was profit-taking after a big run up.

Gilead is trading higher afterhours as the FDA approved the antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, similar to the President.

Early in the day, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% despite another round of better-than-expected earnings reports and encouraging economic data, which included a 55,000 decline in weekly initial claims to 787,000 (Briefing.com consensus 860,000). Risk sentiment was ostensibly pressured by chatter that the passage of a stimulus deal might have to wait until after the election.

The 10-yr yield finished the session higher by three basis points to 0.85%. The 2-yr yield remained unchanged at 0.15% due to the Fed's stance of keeping the fed funds rate near zero for the next few years. The U.S. Dollar Index advanced 0.4% to 92.95. WTI crude futures rose 1.6%, or $0.62, to $40.65/bbl.