Day Traders Diary

3/28/24

The major averages are modestly higher to end the week, month and quarter as the S&P 50 50 aims to wrap up its best first-quarter in the last five years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 18 points. The S&P 500 is up 5 points while the Nasdaq is up 16 points.

Interest rates are quiet again as initial filings for unemployment insurance for the week ended March 16 came in at 210,000, slightly lower than the 211,000 that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 3 basis points to 4.222%. The 2-year Treasury yield is up 5 basis points to 4.62%.

In corporate news, luxury home furnishings retailer, RH is jumping 14% after management indicated that demand trends are expected to accelerate throughout fiscal 2024. The Estée Lauder Companies' (EL) is up 3% as they will open a storefront in the U.S. Amazon Premium Beauty store. Disney keeps creeping higher as their board of directors votes drags closer.

The broader market is quiet today. The big cap tech stocks are quiet. The AI starling, Nvidia is modestly higher to start the day. The stock is up 82% for the quarter and 14% in March alone.

For the quarter, the S&P 500 is up about 10%. It is on pace for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rallied 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow, up 5.5% during the period, is tracking for its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it advanced 7.4%. The Nasdaq is up 9.3% in the quarter thus far.

On a monthly basis, the S&P 500 is up 3%. The Nasdaq and the Dow are both pacing for advances of more than 1.9%.