Day Traders Diary

9/15/23

The major averages took a hit as investors wrapped up a volatile week with hotter than expected inflation data ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 288 points, or by 0.83%, to 34,614, wiping out Thursday's 332-point rally. The S&P 500 fell 54 points while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 21 points.

The Dow closed out a positive week, up by 0.12%. However, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both suffered a second straight week of losses, lower by 0.16% and 0.39%, respectively.

Information technology was the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500, last down more than 1.5%. Adobe fell 5% even though the software firm posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of Arm Holdings opened higher but fell into the red by the close.

Home builders are not faring much better. Lennar is down 3% even though they posted third-quarter results that beat on the top and bottom lines.

The auto stocks Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis N.V.  received bad news as thousands of members of the United Auto Workers went on strike after failing to reach a deal with the automakers Thursday night.

On the economic front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey showed one-year inflation expectations dropped to 3.1% in September, tied for the lowest since January 2021. Also, the five-year outlook fell to 2.7%, matching its lowest since December 2020.

Wall Street is parsing through a mixed batch of economic data ahead of the Fed's policy decision, set to be announced Sept. 20. The central bank is widely expected to hold rates steady next week, but traders will seek insight into how policy makers are thinking about inflation from here.

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