Day Traders Diary

3/17/25

The major averages closed in the green on St Parick's Day, building on Friday's strong rally after a four-week rout on Wall Street exacerbated by President Donald Trump's tariff policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 353 points, or 0.85%, after a 600 point rally on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 36 points or 0.65% while the Nasdaq Composite rose 54 points or 0.31%.

Today felt like a relief rally led by tech and the financials. Not all the techs were higher as Nivid and Tesla both fell today, down 1.76% and 4% respectively.

Even with the two-day rally, it was a brutal week for averages with the Dow having its biggest one-week drop since 2023. The Nasdaq Composite remains in correction territory, down 11% from its record through Friday's close.

Bonds were quiet today with the 10-year Treasury note yield virtually unchanged at 4.29% while the 2-year Treasury was up 3 basis points to 4.04%. On the economic front, retail sales increased 0.2% last month, reversing a downwardly revised decline of 1.2% in January, but less than the 0.6% increase that economists polled by Dow Jones had estimated. The Fed meets this week about interest rates.

Gold held on to the $3000 level up $9 ahead of the Fed meeting.

Oil was higher today in part to rising tensions between the US and Iran. The Houthis have launched repeated attacks on shipping passing through the Red Sea. The militant group is allied with the Islamic Republic and Hamas. The U.S. launched airstrikes against the Houthis over the weekend. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold Iran responsible for any future attacks by the Houthis.

Bitcoin closed modestly higher.