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A Turnaround Tuesday. Major indices close higher.

6% gains for S&P and Nasdaq.

It is a Turnaround Tuesday for the major US stock indices.

The summary of what was a wild swing day is showing:
  • The S&P index rose 142.88 points or 5.99% to 2529.01. The low reached 2367.04. The high was up at 2553.93
  • The Nasdaq index rose 430.189 points or 6.23% to 7334.78. The low reached 6828.91. The high moved up to 7406.23
  • The Dow rose 1049.27 points or +5.2% to 21237.79. The low reached 19882.26. The high reached 21379.35
In the last hour of trading, their was what has been more typical volatility.  Below is the summary of the changes. Not only did stocks move higher, but the US 10 year yield moved up by 5 basis points.
6% gains for S&P and Nasdaq.
Although off the highs the major US indices are ending the day well off the lows.
Major indices close higher

Nasdaq worst day ever. Stocks plunge.

What an active day:

  • The Fed cut rates 1% in the Asian session, surprising the market.
  • The Fed announced quantitative easing to the tune of 500bn Treasuries & 200bn MBS
  • The Fed announced that banks can borrow from the Discount window for up to 90 days
  • They added liquiidity via daily repo action.  The Fed basically said, whatever you need, we will provide
  • Later in the day, the Senate Democrats offered a $750B stimulus package (TBD how it progresses).

So what happened in the markets?

Stocks plummeted

  • The Nasdaq had its worst day ever.
  • The Dow and the S&P % decline was the worst since 1987
  • The Dow’s point drop was the worst point loss ever
Many superlatives, but unfortunately they are all negative.
The numbers at the close are showing:
  • Dow industrial average fell 2997.10 points or -12.93% to 20188.52.
  • S&P index fell -324.89 points or -11.98% to 238-6413
  • Nasdaq index fell -970.28 points or -12.32% at 6904.59
Forex news for NY trading on March 16, 2020
In the US debt market, not only did yields tumble with the 10 year leading the way at -23.4 basis points….
US yields traded higher with the longer and moving up the most.
…but the spreads between European and US started to converge. European 10 year yields were mostly higher with Germany up 8.3 basis points and France up 14.8 basis points.  The combination has pushed those levels closer and closer.
European yields rose in trading today

In the gold and precious metals market, prices fell.

  • Spot gold had a volatile day and is closing down $-18.46 or -1.21% at $1511.37.  The high for the day was up at $1575.47 while the low extended all the way down to $1451.55
  • Spot silver also traded violently. It is closing at $12.90, down $-1.81 or -12.35% It traded in a $3.30 trading range. The high reached $15.15, while the low extended to $11.80. Crazy volatility
The oil markets were also volatile and moved lower as Saudi Arabia said they were not backing down from production cuts. The final numbers are showing:
  • WTI crude oil futures $28.70. $-3.03 or -9.55%. The high price reached $33.75. The low price extended to $28.10.
  • Brent crude oil is trading at $29.52, or $-4.33 or -12.79% on the day.  It’s high price extended to $35.84 while the low fell to $29.50.
Finally in the forex market, the flows so the JPY and the EUR benefit the most. They were the strongest of the major currencies. The JPY benefited from the Pavlovian flight into the “safety of the JPY”. The EUR is a bit of a head scratcher as it is the current epicenter of the coronavirus.

US stocks go out at the lows. The Dow tumbles 10%

NASDAQ and S&P index fall over 9.4%

The US stocks are going out at the lows and down sharply after the markets were not impressed with the President’s address to the nation and the headlines continue to point to slower growth.  The US sporting events are shutting down. The number of infected and deaths continued to grow in Europe.  A massive liquidity add by the Fed could not help.
The final numbers are showing:
  • S&P index -260.6 points or -9.51% at 2480.78
  • NASDAQ index -750.25 points or -9.43% at 7201.80
  • Dow industrial average -2352.33 points or -9.99% at 21200.85.

The changes in major stock marketsYear to date numbers are showing:

  • Dow, -25.71%
  • S&P, -23.22%
  • Nasdaq, -19.74%
  • Canada S&P/TSX index -26.69%
  • Euro Stoxx 50, -32.04%
  • UK FTSE 100 -30.56%
  • German DAX, -30.85%
  • France’s CAC, -32.35%
  • Japan’s new guy, -21.55%
  • Hong Kong’s Hang Seng -13.77%
  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, -20 64%
There is nothing good coming out the stock market.

Year to

US stocks post largest one-day gain since December 2018

Big gains in the US and Canada

Daily change:
  • S&P 500 +135 points to 2882, +4.94%
  • Nasdaq +4.95%
  • DJIA +4.4%
  • Toronto TSX +3.1% — biggest gain since 2011
That a 3.1% gain in Canada is the biggest since 2011 is sad on so many levels. That index is below the 2008 highs.
Big gains in the US and Canada

US stocks suffer worst day since 2008

Closing levels for the main US indexes

Closing levels for the main US indexes
US stocks fell to fresh session lows of 8% late in the day but staged a small bounce late in the day to finish at slightly better levels.
Nonetheless, it was the worst day for US stock markets since 2008 and possibly the worst day ever for oil stocks.
Here is the damage:
  • S&P 500 -7.6% — a 226 point decline to 2746
  • DJIA a 7.8% decline or -2015 points to 23,849
  • Nasdaq -625 points to 7950 — a 7.3% decline
  • Toronto TSX -9.3%
These headlines all sound terrible and this was the worst day for US stocks since December 2008 but when you consider that we’re only back to the June lows, it doesn’t seem that bad. A fall to the 2018 lows would be a decline of 31%.

Late rally takes some of the sting away from the sharp declines today

Rate cut hopes into the weekend helps erase some of the declines on the day.

A late rally has taken some of the sting away from the sharp decline today in US stocks. The Dow industrial average was down close to 894 points an hour before the close. The index is still down around -250 points but well off those low levels.
The final numbers are showing:
  • The S&P index -51.46 points or -1.7% at 2972.46. The index was down over -4% at its lows. So the late day rally erased a lot of those declines.
  • The NASDAQ index is closing down -1.87% or 162.97 points at 8576.61. The low for the day reached 8375.13. The high reached 8612.359. At the low, the index was down -4.16%
  • The Dow industrial average is closing down -255.69 points or -0.98% at 25865.59. The low price reached 25226.62. The high price extended to 25994.38. At the session low the Dow was down -894 points or -3.43%.
Rate cut hopes into the weekend helps erase some of the declines on the day.

(more…)

Another sharp day down in the major US indices

Yields fall to new lows

The risk off flows continued in the US stock market and debt market.
The Dow industrial average was down over 1000 points at 1 point during the day. The S&P index fell below the 3000 level briefly before rebounding in the last hour of trading.
In the US debt market yields resumed their downward bias after yesterdays modest rebound.
The final numbers for the major indices are showing:
  • S&P index -106.18 points or -3.39% at 3023.94. The low price extended to 2999.83. The high was up at 3083.04
  • NASDAQ index fell -279.49 points or -3.10% at 8738.59. The low price reached 8677.387. The high price extended to 8921.078
  • Dow industrial average fell minus this 969.58 points or -3.58% at 26121.28. The low price extended to 25943.33. The high price reached 26671.92
In the US debt market the 10 year yield fell to a new record low level of 0.898%. It is currently trading at 0.91%. That is still down -14.2 basis points on the day. The yield curve flattening a bit to 32.49 basis points from close to 36 basis points the close yesterday, but all maturity levels fell by over -10 basis points.

US yields tumbled lower

Dow closes up over 5% on the day

Major indices close at session highs.

The Dow had the biggest point gain ever, and in the process moved higher by over 5% on the day. The S&P index broke a 7 day decline and rose 4.61%. The NASDAQ index was a laggard with only a 4.5% gain.
The final numbers are showing:
  • The S&P index up 136.27 points or 4.61% at 3090.47. The S&P index closed above its 200 hour moving average at  3048.38. Now the price is above that moving average the next target would be the 100 day moving average at 3168.69
  • The NASDAQ index is ending the day up 384.797 points at 8952.16. That is a gain of of 4.49%. Technically, the price moved above its 100 day moving average at 8828.31. Its 50 day moving average looms ahead at 9245.93.
  • The Dow industrial average is closing up 1293.9 points or 5.09% at 26703.26.  Although the gain was the biggest point gain on record, the index still remains below its 200 day moving average at 27241.99.
Some of the bigger gains include:
  • Tesla, +11.46%
  • Costco, +9.95%
  • Apple, +8.85%
  • Gilead, +8.69%
  • Twitter, +7.92%
  • Walmart, +7.59%
  • UnitedHealth, +7.04%
  • Microsoft, +6.67%
  • Citigroup, +6.56%
  • Travelers, +6.56%
  • Merck, +6.3%
  • Amgen, +6.28%
  • Target, +5.9%
  • Intuit, +5.87%
  • Verizon, +5.82%
  • MasterCard, +5.73%
  • Visa, +5.53%
  • Home Depot, +5.45%

Losers on the day include:

  • Lyft, -3.12%
  • Square, -3.10%
  • First Solar, -1.92%
  • Chewy, -1.83%
  • Deutsche Bank, -1.3%
  • Alcoa, -1.15%
  • Daimler, -1.09%
  • FedEx, -0.75%
  • Chipotle, -0.71%
  • Papa Johns, -0.5%
  • United Airlines, -0.47%

Bloodbath : Major indices get hammered. All 3 major indices down -4.4% on the day

Major indices lose 1% additional in the last 15 minutes of trading on major liquidation

the major indices in the US get hammered once again with the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq indices all lower by -4.4%

The S&P and Dow had there worst point drop in history (not % though).  Major indices all closed in correction (down over 10% from the highs).
The final numbers are showing:
  • S&P index, -137.89 points or -4.42% at 2978.51.
  • The NASDAQ index -414.29 points or 4.61% at 8566.48.
  • Dow industrial average 1192.27 points or -4.42% at 29765.33
Year to date, the
  • Dow is down -9.71%
  • S&P is down -7.8%
  • Nasdaq is down -4.53%
From the high last week, the major indices are showing:
  • NASDAQ index -13%
  • S&P is down -12.30%
  • Dow is down about 12.9%
The Vix, often called the fear index has moved up to 38.5. That surpasses the 36.2 high from December 2018.  That’s the highest level since February 2018. The highest volatility index going back to 2015 moved up to 50.3 and 2018 and 53.29 and 2015.

US Major indices down hard again (For us nothing new ………..as expected )

Dow and S&P down over 3%. 4th day of declines in a row

The US stocks are closing down sharply for the 2nd day in a row . The Dow and S&P  have the worst 2 day decline since February 2018. The Dow has plunged more than 1900 points in 2 days.  The Nasdaq index also moved into and closed in the red for the year (below a 8972.60).
The final numbers are showing
  • The S&P index fell 97.68 points or -3.03% at 3128.21. The high reached 3246.99. The low extended to 3118.77
  • The Nasdaq index fell -255.66 points or -2.77% at 8965.61. It’s high reached 9315.25. The low extended to 8940.488
  • The Dow fell 879.44 points or -3.15% at 27081.36. The high reached 28149.20. The low extended to 26997.62.
After the close, Disney announced that is the CEO Bob Iger would be stepping down.  He will be replaced by Bob Chapek effective immediately.
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