Day Traders Diary

9/12/23

The major averages came under pressure today following tech earnings and rising oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17 points. The S&P 500 declined 25 points while the Nasdaq declined 144 points or 1%.

On the earnings front, Oracle slid 13% after posting revenue and revenue guidance that were weaker than expected. Other tech and cloud competitors were lower as well.

Oil prices also weighed on sentiment, raising fears about sticky inflation and slowing global economic activity. U.S. crude prices touched the highest since November of last year, according to FactSet. Chevron, Exxon and Conoco all rose over 2%.

In the only economic data point of note, the NFIB Small Business Index nudged lower to 91.3, down 0.6 points and slightly below the Dow Jones estimate of 91.5.

The moves following a winning day on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite led the three indexes with a gain of 1.1%, while the S&P 500 and Dow added about 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively. It was the second positive session for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, and the third for the Dow.

Much attention is focused on key inflation data due later in the week, with the consumer price index expected Wednesday and the producer price index slated for Thursday.