Day Traders Diary

2/4/25

The major averages closed higher as trade fears subside. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 134 points or 0.3%.  The S&P 500 rose 43 points or 0.72% while the Nasdaq rose 262 points or 1.35%.

Trade fears subside, but earnings keep rolling in. Palantir rose 23% on strong fourth-quarter results that beat analyst expectations and had hit a fresh record high. Most of the big cap techs performed well today. Google rose nearly 3% to a new high ahead of earnings.

The tariff are on pause with Mexico and Canada, but not China. The Chinese government slapped tariffs of up to 15% on U.S. imports of coal and liquefied natural gas and 10% higher duties on crude oil, farm equipment and selected cars, effective Feb. 10. Chinese stocks performed well today with Alibaba up 3%.

Europe is the next continent for tariffs. On Sunday, Trump warned that he would impose tariffs on both the European Union and the U.K.

The weakest sectors today were healthcare and processed food sector as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president's pick for U.S. health secretary will likely get confirmed. Kennedy is known for being a vaccine skeptic and a critic of ultra processed food. Shares of vaccine makers fell in reaction to the news. Moderna fell 6%, while BioNTech and Pfizer each fell 2%. Pfizer actually reported better than expected earnings. The dog was Merck down on earnings and slowing vaccine sales.

Bonds were quiet today. The price of oil was modestly lower even as President Trump rachets up the pressure on Iran. Gold was higher while bitcoin took a hit today.