Commenting on early moring trading ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration and today’s trading so far, Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said:
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An Active Morning Session Ahead Of Joe Biden's Inauguration
The major indices are all trading slightly higher at midday following another very active morning session on Wall Street ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration. The giants of the tech sector have been pulling their weight this, propelling the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new all-time highs, with only the Dow lagging due to the weakness among cyclical issues. The easing regulatory and tax fears and Netflix’s (NFLX, +14.1%) promising quarterly numbers have been fueling the rally, and the likes of Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, +4.6%), Amazon (AMZN, +3.3%), Microsoft (MSFT, +3.8%) are all sporting lofty gains.
On a negative note, Procter & Gamble (PG, -1.2%) and UnitedHealth (UNH, -0.2%) both opened lower despite their positive earnings and revenue surprises, and banking stocks also continued their post-earnings selloff. In economic news, the NAHB Housing Market Index came in at 83, slightly below expectations, while the German Producer Price Index (PPI) was much higher-than-expected, giving an overnight boost to risk assets. Markets are expected to remain active even after the close with all eyes on Washington and corporate earnings.
Market Wrap
Dow: 31,090, + 160 or 0.5%
S&P 500: 3,839 + 40 or 1.1%
Nasdaq: 13,420, + 223 or 1.7%
Russell 2000: 2,155, + 3 or 0.2%
Market breadth has been in line with the performance of the major indices this morning, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners by a 7-to-3 ratio on the NYSE at midday. Only 1 stock hit a new 52-week low on the NYSE and the Nasdaq, while 359 stocks hit new 52-week highs. The major indices have been trading above their daily VWAPs (Volume-Weighted Average Price) for most of the morning session, pointing to intraday buying pressure. Tech stocks and communication services are having a great session, together with real estate socks, but energy stocks, financials, and a slew of consumer-related issues are in the red at midday following the slightly two-faced morning session. Stay tuned!
