Day Traders Diary

2/28/23

 The major averages fell on Tuesday to round out a tough month for the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 232.39 points, or 0.7% to 32,656.70. The S&P 500 shed 0.3% to end the day at 3,970.15, and the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.1% lower at 11,455.54.

Despite a solid start to the year, all of the major indexes posted their second negative month in three. The Dow ended 4.19% lower for the month and has dipped 1.48% year to date. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost about 2.61% and 1.11% in February, respectively, but are still higher year to date.

Those losses came after a strong start to the year for stocks; the S&P 500 rallied more than 6% in January. However, a sharp jump in Treasury yields this month dented investor sentiment for stocks, as traders feared that higher Federal Reserve rates would remain in place for longer.

On Tuesday, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit its highest level since November.

"Most investors are expecting the 10-year note to vault over 4%, I see 4% as a ceiling in yields [that] will help equites recover in March," said Jeff Kilburg, KKM Financial founder and CEO. "This February flip should be selectively bought."

"Inflation is abating, it's just not a straight line down from the June CPI 9.1% print," he added. "February was an intentional Fed-driven back pedal to the FOMO by under allocated equity investors we witnessed in January."