Dow +401.37 at 39512.13, Nasdaq +202.62 at 16369.40, S&P +46.11 at 5224.62
The stock market finished strong today, leaving the major indices at fresh record highs. The S&P 500 closed above 5,200 for the first time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 400 points, and the Nasdaq gained 1.3%.
The market was in a holding pattern though, until broad-based buying activity started at 2:00 ET in response to the FOMC policy announcement. The committee voted unanimously to leave the target range for the fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25-5.50%. This was largely expected and was not the reason for increased buying activity. No surprises as expected.
Rate cut expectations moved up today. The implied likelihood of a June cut rose to 73.5% from 64.7% earlier today and 59.1% yesterday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Just about everything participated in the afternoon rally. Advancers led decliners by a 5-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a 3-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq. The equal-weighted S&P 500 closed up 0.9%.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed higher and six rose at least 1.0%. The consumer discretionary sector logged the largest gain, up 1.5%, followed by the communication services sector (+1.3%).
For us, AROC, DKNG, and FROG triggered long today. Energy had a consolidation day.
It was clearly a risk-on day. Crypto popped as did gold and silver.
A couple of goofs I made today was not adding VKTX and COIN. I spent enough time staring at both pre-market and at the open but passed because it was Fed Day. Hindsight.
There are some great setups again. Some in the biotech sector have pulled back but have structurally strong stocks.
If you need to chase stuff post-FOMC, semis have come down substantially since the upside panic we saw recently. Note the SMH is climbing back above the 21-day MA, and this space has lagged the overall market lately. The sector makes more sense now than a few weeks ago.
What’s lagging????? The Russell 2000 (IWM, TNA).
I don’t want the P&L to become a mutual fund but here are some good-looking names. I will keep you posted if I add any.
XBI, IIPR, TNDM, ARM, FDMT