Day Traders Diary

1/10/23

The major averages opened lower, but closed in the green as investors continued building on the new year's early rally while waiting for economic data and corporate earnings coming later in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 186 points, or 0.56%, to end at 33,704. The S&P 500 traded up 27 points or % 0.70%, to close at 3,919.25 points. The Nasdaq Composite led the major indexes for another day, adding 1.01% to end the session at 10,742.

 The average has rallied for the past three sessions as optimism over cooling inflation pushed investors to beaten-up technology stocks. It was the index's first three-day win streak since November.

Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones was optimistic on the stock market Tuesday morning, saying the Federal Reserve likely would not break the economy, halting rate hikes before it does so. Jones, who noted he wasn't making a specific forecast, said there was huge demand for stocks on the way this year due to share repurchases and mergers.

"You've probably got something just under a trillion dollars of excess demand in U.S. stocks," Jones said Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "Where is the selling going to come to offset that that demands coming from buybacks, from the corporate line items, from some combination of buybacks and M&A? That's a significant amount. Ceteris paribus, everything being the same, the stock market would be up 7% or 8% this year."

Investors came into the new year worried that higher interest rates could tip the economy into a recession. However, many appear to be mounting bets that inflation is starting to ease. They will watch consumer price index data coming Thursday and big bank earnings on Friday for any clues into the health of the economy or signals of how the Fed will move interest rates going forward.

"We're going to probably be in this really tight range and most likely directionless until we get through at least Thursday with the CPI report and then the kickoff to earnings season, which is also later this week," said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors. "Right now, I just think the market's kind of caught in the middle of waiting for the economic data and absorbing some of the Fed speech."

Copper hit a high not seen since June.

The metal settled up just under 1.3% at $4.0775. It posted a high of $4.0835, which was its most expensive since it hit $4.1160 on June 17.

Copper has gained about 7% since 2023 began.