Commenting on Apple’s impressive gains today’s trading Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said:
Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Apple's Impressive Gains Causes Nasdaq To Rally
The major indices are all trading modestly higher at midday as stocks erased yesterday’s late-day dip in the face due to the strong international headwinds. European stocks suffered another significant hit overnight, with several benchmarks hitting new three-month lows amid the deteriorating COVID picture. Technicals have been playing an important role this morning, as the battle for the Monday lows continues and the Dow got even closer to its 200-day moving average at the open. On the other hand, the Nasdaq staged an impressive morning rally with especially Apple (AAPL, +2.2%) registering impressive gains, and the other large-cap benchmarks followed the lead of the tech index.
The durable goods report missed expectations across the board with headline and core orders both coming in at 0.4% versus the expected 1.1% and 1.0% figures. Risk assets remained stable following the release as last month’s readings were revised upwards, but cyclical assets continue to experience bouts of selling due to the growing global economic worries. That said, the domestic outlook remains much more promising, and due, in part, to that the dollar erased yesterday’s pullback and hit new multi-month highs against the euro and several other “risk-on” currencies.
Market Wrap
Dow: 26,931, + 116 or 0.4%
S&P 500: 3,267 + 21 or 0.6%
Nasdaq: 10,802, + 130 or 1.2%
Russell 2000: 1,462, + 11 or 0.7%
Market breadth has been relatively strong this morning, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners by a 3-to-2 ratio on the NYSE at midday. 37 stocks hit new 52-week lows on the NYSE and the Nasdaq, while only 8 stocks hit new 52-week highs. The major indices have been trading above their daily VWAPs (Volume-Weighted Average Price) for most of the morning session, pointing to intraday buying pressure. Besides tech stocks the defensive utilities and healthcare sectors have been showing relative strength in early trading, but cyclical issues remained under pressure following the bearish overnight session, with only industrials defying that trend. Stay tuned!
