Day Traders Diary

7/7/22

The major averages rose on Thursday as Wall Street looked to extend a modest winning streak and recover from a rough first half of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 300 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 finished up over 50 points or 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained over 250 points or 2.3%.

The S&P 500 is on track for its first four-day winning streak since late March. Energy stocks were among those leading the gains on Thursday, reversing some recent losses as oil prices rebounded. Exxon and Occidental Petroleum each gained about 4%.

Freeport-McMoRan and Nucor rose 7.1% and 5.3%, respectively, as commodity stocks climbed.

Chipmakers boosted the tech sector after South Korea's Samsung posted an 11% jump in profit and 21% surge in revenue for the latest period on strong sales of memory chips. Shares of AMD and Nvidia gained about 5% apiece.

If the S&P 500 closes higher, it will match its longest winning streak of the year, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

Another notable mover was GameStop, which popped 15% after the video game retailer said a 4-for-1 stock split was approved by its board.

Solar stocks also outperformed, with Sunrun gaining more than 7%.

Even with the recent gains, the S&P 500 is still down about 20% from its all-time high in January.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims and continuing claims both ticked up slightly last week. The U.S. trade deficit for May came in slightly higher than expected at $85.5 billion but was still down month over month.

The Labor Department's official jobs report is due out on Friday, and the employment data could warrant extra scrutiny as investors try to gauge the health of the U.S. economy.

Components of the most recent ISM Manufacturing and Services surveys, and rising unemployment claims (albeit from extremely low levels), Friday's Jobs report will hold particular significance," Credit Suisse chief U.S. equity strategist Jonathan Golub said in a note to clients.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect a gain of 250,000 jobs for June, which would be a slowdown from the 390,000 added in May.