Day Traders Diary

11/5/20

The major averages surged once again as the markets are on track for their best week since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 542 points or 1.7%. Earlier in the day, the 30-stock average was higher by more than 600 points. The S&P 500 climbed 67 points or 1.95% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 300 points or 2.5%.

Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft and Apple were all up at least 2%. Shares of Facebook were also up more than 11% this week. Amazon, Microsoft and Apple have gained more than 9% over that time period. Netflix is up 8.2% week to date. Investors in this high growth sector cheered a potential divided government as it likely means taxes won't go up, antitrust scrutiny could stay in check and the China trade war doesn't get any worse.

Those gains put the major averages on pace for their biggest weekly gains since April. The Dow was up 6.9% week to date. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 7.2% and 8.7%, respectively, over that time period.

NBC News projects that former Vice President Joe Biden is the winner in Wisconsin and Michigan, both states that President Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. Biden would then be just 17 Electoral College votes away from winning, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Separately, there were no surprises in the FOMC policy statement or Fed Chair Powell's press conference. The fed funds rate was left unchanged as widely expected. Mr. Powell said the current pace of asset purchases remained appropriate for the current situation but added that the voting committee discussed options if more accommodation is needed.

Treasury yields were subdued all session following yesterday's rally in longer-dated tenors, which was another supporting factor for growth stocks. The 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.15%, and the 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.78%.

The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.9% to 92.58, which aided gold futures ($1946.90, +51.90, +2.7%) but not crude futures ($38.75, -0.41, -1.1%).