Day Traders Diary

9/13/24

The major averages rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posting their strongest week of 2024 ahead Federal Reserve meeting next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 297 points, or 0.72%, closing at 41,393. The S&P 500 rose 30 points or 0.54% to 5,626, less than 1% from its July all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 114 points or 0.65% to 17,683.  The Russell 2000 jumped 2.5% or 53 points.

The 10-yr note yield settled three basis points lower today, and six basis points lower this week, to 3.65%. The 2-yr note yield settled seven basis points lower today, and this week, to 3.58%. Utilities, communications services and industrials led the market higher on Friday, with each sector adding roughly 1%.

Mega cap tech and semiconductor names continued to rebound with Super Micro Computer and Arm Holdings up 3.4% and 5.9%, respectively. Alphabet advanced 1.8% while Uber rose 6%.

On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 rose 4% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.9%, the best week this year for both indexes. The Dow has advanced 2.6% during the period.

Wall Street is now looking ahead toward the Fed's policy meeting on Sept. 17-18, where the central bank is largely anticipated to lower interest rates by 25 basis points. Currently, the Fed's target rate is sitting at 5.25% to 5.5%.