Day Traders Diary
6/24/21
The major averages are soaring on Thursday after President Joe Biden declared that the White House struck an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators. The S&P 500 is rising 26 points or 0.6%, hitting an all-time high, retaking its previous record from June 14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 320 points, or 1%, sitting about 2.5% from its all-time high. The Nasdaq Composite is up 98 points or 0.7%.
The infrastructure deal was expected to include more than $500 billion in new spending above the baseline set by Congress, much less than Democrats first proposed. Republicans have fought the president's proposal to hike the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%.
A broad group of stocks gained to push the benchmarks to new highs. Financials, consumer discretionary, health care and tech were the best-performing sectors. Tesla added more than 5%, while Caterpillar jumped about 3%.
The blue-chip Dow suffered its worst week since October with a 3.5% loss last week after the Fed heightened inflation expectations and forecast rate hikes as soon as 2023. Economic comeback plays led the market losses as investors bet on slower growth amid the central bank's hawkish sentiment. The S&P 500 fell 1.9% last week.
Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell during a Congressional testimony Tuesday reiterated that inflation pressures should be temporary, which seemed to soothe market jitters.
Data out Thursday showed jobless claims totaled 411,000 for the week ended June 19, higher than an estimate of 380,000 from economists polled by Dow Jones.
"The jobs read is another proof point that the economy is coming back to life, albeit maybe in a slightly bumpier fashion than some anticipated at this stage," Loewengart said.
Bank shares gained ahead of the Fed's annual bank stress test results, which are scheduled for release after the bell on Thursday. The test examines how banks fare during various hypothetical economic downturns. Banks were forced to freeze dividends and stop buybacks during the pandemic. These results should give them the green light to eventually raise payouts. Goldman Sachs shares rose about 1%.
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