Day Traders Diary

12/14/20

The major averages pulled back once again as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell on Monday as fears of additional Covid-19 restrictions offset the optimism around a vaccine rollout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 184 points, or 0.6%, at 29,861. The S&P 500 declined by 0.4% to 3,647 posting its first four-day winning streak since Sept. 21. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 0.5% to 12,440.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio warned earlier in the day that the city could experience a "full shutdown" soon. His comments put pressure on the Dow and S&P 500. "We're seeing the kind of level of infection with the coronavirus we haven't seen since May and we have got to stop that momentum, or else our hospital system will be threatened," de Blasio said.

Other parts of the U.S., as well as other countries, have already implemented stricter social distancing measures. In the U.K., the country's health secretary said London will be placed on England's toughest tier of Covid-19 restrictions.

Shares of companies that would benefit from the economy reopening lagged companies that thrived early on in the pandemic. United Airlines dropped 3.4%. Amazon, meanwhile, popped 1.3%.

De Blasio's warning came as the U.S. began to roll out a coronavirus vaccine designed by Pfizer and BioNTech to hundreds of distribution centers across the country. The first dose of the vaccine was administered in New York City earlier on Monday. The FDA is also slated to publish its assessment on Moderna's vaccine this week.

The Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out amid some of the darkest days of the pandemic in the U.S. More than 300,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been confirmed in the U.S. Over 16 million cases have been reported in the U.S.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington tried once again to push forward on a new coronavirus stimulus package.

A bipartisan group of congressional members plans to release a $908 billion stimulus package. However, some key disagreements remain between both parties, particularly over state and local government aid.

U.S. Treasuries finished little changed after starting the session in the red, as investors returned to bonds amid the lackluster intraday price action in the major indices. The 2-yr yield was flat at 0.11%, and the 10-yr yield was flat at 0.89%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.3% to 90.69. WTI crude increased 0.9%, or $0.42, to $47.00/bbl.