Dow Jones On Track For New Closing High; McConnell Unveils New Stimulus Bill

The Dow Jones Industrial Average stayed on pace for a new closing high Wednesday afternoon, as the fate of $2,000 stimulus checks remained unclear.

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The Dow Jones industrials rose 0.5%, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 added 0.3% each in the stock market today. Small caps tracked by the Russell 2000 rallied 1.2%. Volume was mixed, lower on the NYSE but higher on the Nasdaq vs. the same time Tuesday.

Tuesday evening, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said $600 stimulus payments would start going out immediately. Late Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill that would increase the payments to $2,000, but also repeal a law that protects social media companies, and set up a commission to study election fraud.

Tech stocks have boosted the Nasdaq to a 43% gain this year, while the S&P 500 is up 15% through Tuesday’s close. The Dow is up nearly 6%, and the Russell 2000 has advanced 17%. Read The Big Picture for detailed daily market analysis.

The market has been in new high ground after some volatility. On Nov. 4, after Election Day, IBD’s market outlook returned to “confirmed uptrend” as the major indexes staged big rallies. That gave the green light to buy leading stocks that are breaking out of solid bases.

Meantime, Covid-19 cases continue to rise globally. Worldwide cumulative coronavirus cases have topped 82.6 million, with more than 1.8 million deaths, according to Worldometer. In the U.S., confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic are approaching 20 million, with a death toll over 347,000.

Dow Winners And Losers

Visa (V), Caterpillar (CAT) and Disney (DIS), up more than 2% each, were the Dow’s biggest winners.

Visa rose 2.6% to clear a 217.75 buy point of a flat base, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Volume was running about 16% higher than usual, below the ideal 40% minimum increase. The credit card giant has advanced 14% this year.

Disney added 1.8%, on track for a new closing high. Shares are up more than 25% this year and have rallied more than 46% in Q4. That makes Disney stock the top-performing blue chip for the quarter. It’s in profit-taking range from a 131.46 buy point of a double-bottom base cleared last month.

Big-cap techs underperformed as Intel (INTC) fell 1.5%, Microsoft (MSFT) gave up 0.8%, and Apple (AAPL) and Salesforce.com (CRM) edged slightly lower.

Solar, chip and automaker stocks led the upside among IBD’s 197 industry groups. Hospital, drugstore and movie-related stocks saw small declines.

EV Stocks On The Move

Tesla (TSLA) advanced more than 2% as it aims to extend its win streak to five days. Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and 715 price target on the electric-vehicle giant, with a bull-case price target of 1,000. Tesla is on track to reach the 500,000 vehicle delivery target for 2020, Wedbush said in a note.

Tesla stock is more than 40% extended from a 466 buy point of a cup with handle. It’s about 3% off its record high. Tesla is an IBD Leaderboard stock.

Among other EV makers, China’s Nio (NIO) rallied nearly 3% to extend a 5% rebound off its 50-day moving average.

Tesla rival Nio continued to rebound from its 50-day moving average, moving up 1% following Tuesday’s 5% jump. Nio is about 17% off its high.

The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gained 1.5%, on pace to snap a four-session losing streak. IBD 50 winners included Vipshop (VIPS), Digital Turbine (APPS), Futu Holdings (FUTU) and Cerence (CRNC).

Follow Nancy Gondo on Twitter at @IBD_NGondo

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