Day Traders Diary

8/23/24

The major averages ended on a strong note following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated interest rate cuts will start in September with more on the horizon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 462 points, or 1.14%. The S&P 500 rose 63 points or 1.15% while the Nasdaq rose 258 points or 1.47%. Not to be outdone, the Russell 2000 rose 68 points or 3.195 or 4.19%.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped 6 basis points to 3.80%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury pulled back almost 10 basis points to 3.91% as the Fed Chairman signaled an inflection points on interest rates as the direction of rates has become clear with the timing and pace of rate cuts depending on incoming data.

Technology and small caps led the rally today. In the tech space, Nvidia rose 4%, leading the chips higher. Ironically, the big cap techs were relatively quiet today with Meta lower on the day.

Cyclical stocks had a good day. Home Depot and Lowes have both made cautious comments on the consumer of late yet both stocks rose 2.8% and 4% respectively. Homebuilders had a good day as well with PulteGroup up 10%. Lennar Corporation and D.R. Horton adding at least 7% each.

On the week, the Dow rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq up 1.4% and the S&P 500 up 1.45%, closing in on all time highs once again.  The Rusell 2000 rose over 3% on the week with most of the gains coming today.