Day Traders Diary

5/13/25

The major averages closed mixed with weakness in the Dow, but strength in the other major averages with the S&P 500 back in positive territory for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 269 points, or 0.64% due to a 17% drop in shares of UnitedHealth. The broad S&P 500 index gained 42 points or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 301 points or 1.6%.

Tech led the way again with President Trump and a number of tech CEOs in the Middle East inking new deals for the US. Shares of Nvidia advanced 5.6% on news that the company would send 18,000 of its top artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabia. Most of the chips were higher. Tesla rose 4.8% as Musk gets back to running his companies.

Not many sectors lower today. Unitedhealth Group fell 17% dragging down the Dow and the healthcare space. UNH suspended guidance for the year due to higher costs while their CEO stepped down. Consumer defensive stocks and utilities were lower today.

Yields were higher for a second straight today with the 10-year Treasury yield up 2.4 basis points to 4.48%, while the 2-year Treasury yield added less than a basis point to 4.01%.

Oil stocks and the price of oil was higher by 2% today as Trump does more deals. Gold and bitcoin rebounded after a down day Monday.