Retail buyers came out in full force in the trading session following Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, continuing their dip-buying pattern throughout recent volatility. Individual investors bought a net $4.1 billion worth of stocks on Monday from the open through 12:30 p.m. ET, the largest level ever for the time of day and a more than 11 standard deviation move, according to data from JPMorgan’s trading desk. They closed the session with $5.4 billion net purchases. The retail cohort was also responsible for 36% of total trading volume Monday, marking another record, JPMorgan said. .SPX 1D mountain S & P 500 Their aggressive buying came after Moody’s Ratings cut the United States’ sovereign credit rating down one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, the highest possible, citing the growing burden of financing the federal government’s budget deficit and the rising cost of rolling over existing debt amid high interest rates. The S & P 500 slipped about 1% at its session low but ended up squeezing out a 0.09% gain for its sixth consecutive winning session thanks to the record retail buying. The “buy the dip” mentality has been well-anchored on Main Street this year. Retail traders net bought $40 billion in April during the tariff chaos, setting a new record for the largest monthly inflow. Their buying came even as Wall Street pros worried about a recession and a shift away from U.S. assets due to President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies. Still, the Moody’s debt downgrade pressured bond prices and sent yields higher Monday with the 30-year U.S. bond yield jumping above 5% and the 10-year yield topping 4.5%. “US Equities followed a similar path from last week where the daily lows were experienced in the pre-mkt, opening higher, and then seeing another leg higher after the UK/EU close,” JPMorgan said in a note Tuesday. “This may point to retail investors and corporate buybacks as the incremental buyers.”
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