Day Traders Diary

5/4/23

The major averages fell once again as contagion fears in the regional bank space were reignited after the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point rate hike and commentary from the Chairman. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 286 points, or 0.86%. The S&P 500 slid 0.72% while the Nasdaq Composite shed 58 points or 0.49%.

The Dow turned negative for the year on Thursday, pulling back 0.06% year to date. Declines in Boeing, Disney, Goldman Sachs and American Express shares pulled back the Dow.

Shares of PacWest tanked by more than 50%. The decline came after news late Wednesday that the California bank has been assessing strategic options, including a possible sale, a person familiar told CNBC. Regional bank shares sold off hard, with the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) dropping more than 5%. Western Alliance tumbled 38% and saw trading halted multiple times due to volatility. Meanwhile, Zions Bancorporation lost 12%.

April's nonfarm payrolls report is due Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, as well as numbers on the unemployment rate.

As the Fed pushed through its 10th rate hike in this cycle and the central bank seemed to soften its language on future increases, Chair Jerome Powell said that it may be too soon to cut.

"We on the committee have a view that inflation is going to come down not so quickly," he said in his post-meeting press conference. "It will take some time, and in that world, if that forecast is broadly right, it would not be appropriate to cut rates and we won't cut rates."