Day Traders Diary

11/28/22

The major averages tumbled Monday as unrest in China over the nation's restrictive COVID controls weighed on global sentiment and Wall Street returned from a holiday weekend. The S&P 500 sank 62 points or 1.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 497 points or 1.45% while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite sank 176 points or 1.6%.

Investors assessed widespread protests across China's major cities that began during the weekend over the country's Zero-COVID policies. The U.S. dollar gained against other currencies as the yuan slumped. Oil plunged and hit 2022 lows, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures settling at around $77 per barrel.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) sank 2.6% Monday on concerns that turmoil in China may pressure a key manufacturing plant in the country and further weigh on already constrained iPhone production. Bloomberg also reported tumult across the country may cause a production shortfall of about 6 million iPhone Pros this year.

Remarks from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard also dampened the mood on Wall Street Monday after he asserted the U.S. central bank has "a ways to go" on interest rates. Bullard said the federal funds rate needs to be lifted to at least a range between 5.00% and 5.25% to be "sufficiently restrictive" to tame inflation.

Cryptoworld was in focus following a report by Decrypt indicating digital asset lender BlockFi will file for bankruptcy and lay off staff as the contagion effects of FTX's collapse continue to permeate the space.

Investors face a barrage of economic data this week as they head into December. The government's November jobs report, housing data, a second look at third-quarter GDP and PCE inflation are just some of the key releases on tap.

Monday's moves come after a week of modest gains for stocks that saw the S&P 500 rise 1.5%, the Dow 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.7% over the three-and-a-half-day trading period curtailed by Thanksgiving.

Just 24 trading days remain in 2022. The Federal Reserve and officials' path forward for interest rates continue to be the main focus for investors, with the U.S. central bank's final hike of the year on deck after its next meeting Dec. 13-14.