U.S. Stocks on Thursday

It was an interesting week. On December 24, U.S. stocks saw gains on the day. Let’s start with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Dow Jones added 70.04 points or 0.2%, to 30,199.87. Also, the S&P 500 advanced 0.4% or 13.05 points, to 3,703.06. Moreover, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% or 33.62 points, to 12,804.73. Interestingly, was the best-performing sector, rising 0.8%.

It is worth noting that, trading volume was low on Christmas Eve. Importantly, the market closed early at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday. People should take into account that, the market will be closed on Friday in observance of Christmas.

As stated above U.S. stocks strengthened their positions on Thursday.

Across the world, more precisely in Hong Kong, shares of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba dropped more than 13%. The Chinese authorities initiated a new antitrust investigation and this new affected shares of Alibaba. 

Moreover, this week the European Union and the United Kingdom reached a trade deal. As a reminder, it took a lot of time and effort to reach an agreement. 

Importantly, House Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempt to pass $2,000 direct payments. This move comes at a time when the fate of a coronavirus relief package passed by Congress hangs in balance. The U.S. President Donald Trump called the $900 billion bill unsuitable because it calls for $600 rather than $2,000 checks. Millions of Americans are struggling to cope with financial problems and they need help to solve their problems.

Stocks and main findings

Let’s get back to U.S. stocks. It is worth mentioning that, the S&P 500 registered a 0.2% loss this week amid profit-taking action into the year-end. Notably, policy uncertainty also affected investors’ spirits in the holiday week. Interestingly, the 30-stock Dow made up for a 0.1% gain for the week. 

Moreover, Nasdaq added 0.4% this week, while the Russell 2000 gained 1.6% for its eighth straight week of gains. It is the longest weekly winning streak since February 2019. As stated above U.S. stocks strengthened their positions on Thursday.

Furthermore, investors continued to monitor progress regarding the vaccine rollout. Based on the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just over one million shots had been administered as of December 23. Unfortunately, this result missed expectations. 

As stated above, it was a positive day for U.S. stocks. Last but not least, with just several trading days left in the year, the Nasdaq is on pace to be the clear winner, currently up more than 42%. Moreover, the Dow is up 5.8% and S&P 500 added 14.6%.