Day Traders Diary

8/13/21

The major averages closed in the green with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hit fresh all-time highs on Friday as both indexes capped off modest gains for the week.

The Dow finished the day up 15 points to close at a record 35,515, while the S&P 500 added 7 points to finished at 4,468, a new closing record. The Nasdaq Composite ticked up just 6 points to 14,822.

Shares of Disney jumped 1% after it reported blowout fiscal third-quarter earnings, helping pushing the Dow to a new record. The media giant crushed Wall Street expectations on Disney+ subscriber growth and overall revenue and earnings.

Among the S&P sectors, consumer staples and utilities outperformed as Tyson Foods added 2.7% and FirstEnergy rose 1%. Energy and industrials again underperformed with Hess down 1.2% and United Rentals retreating 2%. Ebay shares added 5.3%.

The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 are on track to close out a winning week after gaining 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, through Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed this week, down 0.1%.

Investors digested mixed economic data.

The University of Michigan's sentiment read for August printed at just 70.2, the weakest since December 2011. BMO Capital Markets strategist Ian Lyngen said that the low reading reflects not only higher prices, but also the uptick in the delta variant case count.

On Thursday, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims came in at 375,000 last week, matching estimates and declining for a third straight week. Meanwhile, the producer price index, excluding volatile food, trade services and energy components, rose 0.9% last month versus a forecast for a 0.5% gain.