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Dow closes at record high with small gain
30-Dec-20 16:15 ET
Dow +73.89 at 30409.50, Nasdaq +19.78 at 12870.01, S&P +5.00 at 3732.04

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 increased 0.1% on Wednesday in a relatively tight-ranged session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) also finished with small gains, but it was a record close for the Dow. The Russell 2000 pulled ahead with a 1.1% gain, as investors bought the dip in small-caps.

Corporate news was sparse heading into New Year's Eve, which is a full trading day for Wall Street, but one notable story was the UK approving the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca (AZN 50.18, +0.28, +0.6%) and Oxford for emergency use.

The vaccine approval may have benefited cyclical sectors like energy (+1.6%), materials (+1.3%), and industrials (+0.7%) since it resonated with the narrative that economic activity will pick up next year with several effective vaccines in the market. The communication services (-0.7%), consumer staples (-0.1%), and information technology (-0.02%) sectors closed lower.

Walt Disney (DIS 181.17, +3.87, +2.2%), a stock many consider a reopening stock, was an individual standout, as was Visa (V 218.36, +3.99, +1.9%) on word that the $600 stimulus checks have started to hit people's bank accounts. On a related note, Senate Majority Leader McConnell said that $2000 stimulus checks (an increase from $600) have "no realistic path" to quickly pass in the Senate.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA 694.78, +28.79, +4.3%), meanwhile, rose 4.3% in a momentum trade to fresh all-time highs. Tesla helped mitigate some weakness in Amazon (AMZN 3285.85, -36.15, -1.1%) for the consumer discretionary sector (+0.3%). AMZN underperformed with the other FAANG stocks today.

U.S. Treasuries finished little changed. The 2-yr yield was flat at 0.13%, and the 10-yr yield decreased one basis point to 0.93%. The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.4% to 89.64. WTI crude futures increased 0.9%, or $0.42, to $48.39/bbl.

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data:

Pending home sales dropped 2.6% m/m in November (Briefing.com consensus -0.5%) following a revised 0.9% decline in October (-1.1%).
The Chicago PMI for December increased to 59.2 (Briefing.com consensus 56.9) from 58.2 in November.
The Advance International Trade in Goods deficit widened to $84.8 billion in November (prior -$80.3 billion); Advance Retail Inventories increased 0.3% (prior increase revised to 0.9% from 0.8%); and Advance Wholesale Inventories decreased 0.1% (prior increase revised to 1.1% from 0.9%).

Looking ahead, investors will receive the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report on Thursday.

Nasdaq Composite +43.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +18.7% YTD
S&P 500 +15.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +6.6% YTD

Market Snapshot
Dow 30409.50 +73.89 (0.24%)
Nasdaq 12870.01 +19.78 (0.15%)
SP 500 3732.04 +5.00 (0.13%)
10-yr Note +1/32 0.926
NYSE Adv 2131 Dec 921 Vol 691.0 mln
Nasdaq Adv 2576 Dec 1135 Vol 5.2 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Energy, Materials, Industrials
Weak: Communication Services, Consumer Staples, Information Technology

Moving the Market

-- Dow closes at record high with small gain in lackluster session

-- AstraZeneca (AZN)/Oxford vaccine approved for emergency use in the UK

-- $600 stimulus checks started going out last night

-- Cyclical sectors outperformed

McConnell says no plans to separate $2000 checks into separate bill
30-Dec-20 15:30 ET
Dow +84.28 at 30419.89, Nasdaq +14.13 at 12864.36, S&P +3.92 at 3730.96

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is trading near session lows with a 0.1% gain in a lackluster session from a price action perspective.

In recent stimulus news, Senate Majority Leader McConnell said on the Senate floor that he will not split up legislation to provide $2,000 stimulus checks, election security, and section 230 social media reform into separate bills. This is in-line with prior thinking that he would package all items together, supposedly making it unlikely to increase the stimulus checks.

WTI crude futures settled higher by 0.9%, or $0.42, to $48.39/bbl.