Day Traders Diary

4/28/25

The major averages closed mixed with a nice rally in the last hour with the S&P 500 finishing in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114 points or 0.28%. The S&P 500 eked out a gain of 3 points while the Nasdaq fell 16 points.

Another big week for earnings as four of the 'Magnificent Seven' companies Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft report. So far here in April, 73% of companies reporting earnings have beaten analysts' estimates, slightly below the 5-year average of 77%.

The week also will see multiple reports on the labor market as well as key data on inflation and economic growth. Topping the list will be Friday's nonfarm payrolls release, while first-quarter gross domestic product and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge will be out Wednesday.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield pulled back more than 5 basis points to 4.2%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was down more than 7 basis points to 3.68%.

Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had little clarity on the direction of reaching a possible trade agreement with China, but said that the onus was not on the United States. On the positive, Bessent said that they were making progress on other trade proposals, suggesting a deal with India would be "one of the first" to come.

Oil was lower today while gold and bitcoin were in the green.

So far in April, the S&P 500 is down by more than 1%, sitting more than 10% below its 52-week high reached in late February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track to lose more than 4%, while the Nasdaq Composite is up around 0.3%. The S&P 500 briefly entered a bear market on April 7 and has made a recovery since, but the index has failed to break through key resistance levels.