Day Traders Diary

3/18/24

The major averages finished in the green today following two down weeks. Wall Street is awaiting key artificial intelligence conference and monetary policy guidance from the Federal Reserve later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 75 points or . 20%. The S&P 500 closed up 32 points or 0.63% while the Nasdaq rose 130 points or 0.82%.

Tech led the rally today with Nvidia up a percent on an upgrade ahead of the company's GTC Conference where the chipmaker is expected to showcase its latest inroads in artificial intelligence. Super Micro Computer initially rose 6%, but closed down 6% for the company's first trading day as part of the S&P 500.

Alphabet jumped 4% on news from Bloomberg indicating Apple is in talks with Google to include Gemini AI in their iPhones.

Treasury yields are modestly higher ahead of the Fed's two-day policy meeting, which is slated to start Tuesday and end with an announcement Wednesday.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a 99% likelihood that the Fed will leave benchmark interest rates unchanged this week. However, the expectation for a June cut has ticked down in recent days to about 55%.