Day Traders Diary

1/6/24

After a strong open, the major averages closed mixed with the Dow Jones pulling back after a down week to start the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25 points after rallying over 300 points to start the day. The S&P 500 closed up 32 points or 0.55% while the Nasdaq rose 243 points or 1.24%.

Tech and in particular, the chip space had a strong start to the week on news out of Tiawan from Foxconn announcing record fourth-quarter revenue and strong demand for 2025. This bodes well for Nvidia up 3% today and the rest of the chip and chip equipment space. Micron jumped 10% while a number of chip equipment makers were up 3% or more including Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Tencor. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF was up over 3%.

News out of Washington may have also been lending support to the tech space as President-elect Donald Trump's tariff plan may be narrower than anticipated, covering only critical imports. GM was higher by 3% on the news. Ford was modestly higher.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose more than 3 basis points to 4.63%, while the 2-year Treasury dipped a basis point to 4.27% as investors look ahead to key monthly jobs number out Friday morning. The New York Stock Exchange will be closed Thursday to mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

In the commodity space, oil and gold were lower today. Bitcoin jumped 4% today, up 8% to start the new year back above the $100,000 level. President Trump's election was certified today. January has often a bullish month for bitcoin.