A quiet day on Wall Street to kick off another holiday-shortened week
Stocks finished on a high note to end the holiday-shortened Christmas Eve trading session, despite disappointing news regarding stimulus checks directly to Americans. The disagreement will likely create a lapse in unemployment aid, and could lead to a government shutdown which Wall Street doesn't usually love. Overseas, the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) finally reached a historic post-Brexit trade deal on Christmas Eve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 30,199.87) added 0.2% for the day on Thursday, and 0.06% last week. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,703.06) added 0.4% for the day on Thursday, but lost 0.2% for the week last week. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC -12,804.73) added 0.3%, for the day on Thursday, and 0.4% last week. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 21.53) dropped 7.6% on Thursday, and 0.2% last week.
We are finally bidding goodbye to 2020 with another holiday-shortened week this week, and investors will immediately start looking ahead to 2021 as the market quiets down ahead of New Year's Day. The week after Christmas will be another short one as the market is closed next Friday, New Year's Day. This week features only a few economic indicators, including pending home sales data, the Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI), and this year's last round of jobless claims data. The earnings docket will be practically empty to finish the year, if not for Weibo (WB).
We are starting off the week slowly today with no economic data slated to be reported today. As far as earnings, Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) is the only name on the docket today.
There is only one company slated to release earnings today, December 28:
Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ:WB -- $44.31) is a social media platform for people to create, distribute, and discover content in the People's Republic of China. Weibo will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.
Zero companies reported earnings on the last day the market was open, December 24, so there is no recap here today.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Tuesday will also be a relatively quiet day on Wall Street. Investors can expect the Case-Shiller home price index data to be released tomorrow morning.
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The U.S. stock market has a shortened schedule again this week, with only four full trading days. On Friday, January 1, the U.S. stock market will be closed in observance of New Year's Day. Normal trading will resume on Monday, January 4.