Day Traders Diary

9/7/23

The major averages are mixed heading into the close with tech stocks showing weakness while Wall Street is concerned over the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy and further rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading up 85 points. The S&P 50 is down 10 points while the Nasdaq is down 109 points or 0.8%.

Apple is leading the weakness in tech down nearly 3% gain as Bloomberg News reports that China is looking to broaden a ban on the use of iPhones in state-owned companies and agencies. Tesla, another Chinese favorite, is down nearly 3%.

On the earnings front, C3.ai is down 9% after reporting lower-than-expected gross margin in the recent quarter, while ChargePoint Holdings is down 10% after missing revenue estimates.

On the economic front, a number of data numbers including fewer-than-expected jobless claims contributing fears that the still strong labor market may make the Federal Reserve think twice about relaxing its tight monetary policy. Jobless claims came in at 216,000, versus the 230,000 expected by Dow Jones, while labor costs rose more than anticipated.

Major U.S. stock benchmarks are coming off a losing session as higher Treasury yields pressured tech stocks and heightened investor worry that the Federal Reserve will use recent stronger-than-expected economic data to justify additional hikes.

While 93% of interest rate traders foresee no change at September's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, expectations of an additional interest rate hike at the November meeting rose above 40%, according to the CME