The hottest day of the week is today on the economic event calendar
Stocks fell back from their intraday records on Tuesday amid a new stimulus gridlock in D.C. The Dow was up more than triple digits at its session highs, but slowly drifted into the red as the day wore on and more news broke about the stimulus checks path through Congress. The continued rising number of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. is casting a pall over the optimism from the vaccine rollout. Investors are also keeping a close eye on Georgia's Senate run-off election next Tuesday, which could have a major impact on next four year's political activities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 30,335.67) dropped 68.3 points yesterday. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,727.04) dropped 8.3 points and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 12,850.22) dropped 49.2 points on Tuesday. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 23.08) added 1.4 point during yesterday's trading session.
Today, we will see the busiest day of the week for investors and market activity will finally pick up for the week. Investors can expect the Chicago PMI, pending home sales data, and an advance report on trade in goods all to be released today.
There are no companies slated to release quarterly earnings reports today, December 30.
There were also no companies that reported quarterly earnings yesterday, December 29, so there is also no earnings report recap today.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, aka the last day of the trading year(!), the market will be cooling off again on New Year's Eve, with only the last round of jobless claims data of 2020 to unpack.
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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.