Day Traders Diary

5/29/20

The major averages recovered into the close erasing losses earlier in the session, as traders breathed a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump signaled no changes to the trade deal with China despite rising tensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 17 points weighed down by the financials. The S&P 500 finished up 14 points at 3044. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2% as chip stocks rallied.

For the month, the markets had a massive run on optimism about economic reopening. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both gained 3% on the week finishing the month up 4.2% and 4.5% respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.7% on the week to finish up 6.7% for May.

During the much-awaited news conference, Trump said he would take action to eliminate special treatment towards Hong Kong. However, he did not indicate the U.S. would pull out of the phase one trade agreement reached with China earlier this year, easing trader concerns for the time being.

The news conference comes after China approved a national security bill for Hong Kong that experts warn could endanger the city's "one country, two systems" principle. That principle allows for additional freedoms that mainland China residents don't have.

Oil jumped more than 5% on Friday, the last trading day of the month, capping off its best month in history as an uptick in demand as well as record supply cuts pushed prices higher.

On the earnings front, VMware rose 9.7% while Dell rose 8.9% on earnings. Retailer, Williams-Sonoma jumped 13.9% while ZScaler soared 29.4% on earnings.  

U.S. Treasuries saw increased buying interest today, pushing yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield declined two basis points to 0.15%, and the 10-yr yield declined six basis points to 0.65%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.1% to 98.31. WTI crude rose 4.9%, or $1.65, to $35.33/bbl.