Presidential Debate: Trump Vs. Biden

The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden took place last night. It was an acrimonious, chaotic and insulting debate. The global stock market has become even more concerned following this debate and investors are largely ignoring all other major fundamentals, such as the worsening coronavirus situation in Europe and strong economic numbers out of China.

The U.S. futures moved higher during the debate as investors saw Joe Biden displaying his strong position against Donald Trump, but the Dow Jones took a complete U-turn after the debate because investors believe that if Trump losses the election, the transition of power is not going to be smooth. The presidential debate reinforced the market concerns that Trump isn’t going to accept his defeat that easily. This creates the biggest risk for not only the U.S. stock market rally, but we are seeing the global stock market take a nose-dive today.

Stock Market Today

Over in Asia, the stock market mostly closed in negative territory. The Shanghai index declined by 0.42%. The Nikkei stock index also moved lower by 1.41%, while the Korean Kospi soared 0.86%. Hong Kong’s HSI Nikkei Index increased by 0.61%. 

Coronavirus Update

The coronavirus situation continues to deteriorate over in Europe as new cases are surging. The total global number of Covid-19 cases is now above 33 million, and the virus has claimed nearly 1.006 million lives. The U.S. still remains the worst country in terms of coronavirus deaths and virus cases, while India holds the third position.

Dow Jones and S&P500: Market Breadth

The Dow Jones’ market breadth took a beating yesterday. 63% of the Dow Jones stocks traded above their 200-day moving average yesterday.  

The S&P 500 stock breadth also lost more momentum. 57% of the shares traded above their 200-day moving average yesterday. This is a change of -6% from a day earlier.  

Dow Jones Futures Today

The Dow Jones futures are trading lower by 150 points, due to the U.S. presidential election debate. Traders and investors will be paying close attention to the upcoming ADP Non-Farm Employment change number. The forecast is for 650K, against the previous reading of 428K. This data sets the tone for the most important U.S. economic reading, the U.S. Jobs Report that is due on Friday. If we see an improvement in the ADP Employment number, it is likely to push the Dow Jones futures higher and may shift the investors’ focus away from last night’s presidential debate.

Should You Buy Or Sell Stocks?  

The Dow Jones futures have failed to break above the 50-day simple moving average, a technical level which is considered important among traders, on the daily time frame. The Dow Jones futures are marching back towards the 100-day SMA, and the hope is that the Dow’s price will stay above this important level. If the Dow’s price falls below the 100-day SMA, it could mean more sell-off for the coronavirus stock market rally.

The S&P 500 futures, the wider representation of the U.S. equity market, are also trading sharply lower. Traders are worried that the S&P 500 is also failing to show any sign of strength, but bulls are keeping their hopes alive as the S&P 500’s price is trading above the 100 and 200-day SMA on the daily time frame. 

Stock To Watch: Tesla, Shell   

Tesla’s stock has taken some serious beatings over the past few weeks, and investors are waiting for some good news that can push the stock higher. This good news could be in the form of new vehicle deliveries, which the company is expected to announce in the coming days.

Shell has announced massive job cuts today. The company will cut 7,000 to 9,000 jobs by the end of 2022. The company expects to save $2.0B to $2.05B in annual costs by 2022. Shell’s CEO believes that the company will end up with less than 10 refineries as Shell continues to become more of an environmentally friendly company.  Due to the lower oil price, the company’s gross refining margins are massively squeezed.  

Stock Market Rally

The S&P 500 stock index closed modestly lower yesterday, and the index fell by 0.48%. The energy sector led the index lower, and 10 out of 11 sectors closed lower. 

The Dow index continued its losing streak yesterday, and the Dow stocks moved the index lower by 0.48%. 4 stocks of the Dow Jones Index increased in value, and 26 shares of the Dow index moved lower. 

The NASDAQ composite, a tech-savvy index, declined 0.37% yesterday. 

S&P 500 Leaders and Laggers: Paycom Software, Apache

Paycom Software stock contributed the biggest gain, soaring 4.447%. Apache stock was the largest drag; it fell by 7.58%. The S&P 500 stock index is up 8.3% during this quarter.

Dow Jones Leaders and Laggers: Nike, Travelers

Nike stock advance higher by 1.63%, and was the biggest mover for the Dow, while Travelers stock dropped 2.52%, the biggest drag for Dow Jones industrial average index.