Dow hits 30k for the first time

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, America's oldest equity benchmark has closed above 30,000 for the first time on record.

MARKETS

News

Japan’s Nikkei is up nearly 2% as Asia-Pacific shares mostly rise after Dow surges to a new record;

Airlines and cruise stocks surged on Tuesday as stocks tied to an economic recovery continued to rise after a series of positive vaccine announcements. Shares of American Airlines and United Airlines both jumped more than 9%, while Carnival led the way for cruise stocks with an 11% gain;

Tesla jumped more than 6% to hit a record high as investors continue to favour the stock. The move pushed Tesla’s market cap above $500 billion for the first time on record. Shares have gained more than 550% this year;

Nikola shares fell 8% after-hours as CEO failed to reassure investors GM won’t pull out of $2 billion deal. The stock gained 17% in regular hours.

What Else? 

Credit Suisse set to take $450m hit as hedge fund York Capital retreats;

Abercrombie shares fell 2% after hours as the company announced an early exit from four of its European flagship locations;

JD Health to raise up to $4bn in Hong Kong IPO. Listing of ecommerce group’s healthcare unit is set to be one of 2020’s biggest listings;

Biden’s pick for foreign policy head affirms a push to get allies on board with U.S. policy on China;

Coronavirus latest: Italy reports highest daily death toll since March-end. Texas food bank doubles amount of people it serves amid coronavirus pandemic. US records deadliest day in more than 6 months as 2,028 succumb. Internet searches for "Bidet" begin to soar in the U.S as Toilet paper shortage intensifies. 

Earnings update 

Best Buy (BBY) Q3 Non-GAAP EPS of $2.06 beats by $0.34 but GAAP EPS of $1.48 misses by $0.10. Revenue of $11.85B (+21.4% Y/Y) beats by $880M. Stock dropped by 6% in regular trading;

Dollar Tree (DLTR) reports comparable sales increased 5.1% in Q3 vs. +4.7% consensus. Stock gained 14%;

Tiffany (TIF) beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit as the U.S. jeweller benefited from an over 70% rise in sales in China and a recovery in demand at home. Stock was flat in regular trading;

Gap (GPS) shares tumbled more than 10% after hours as earnings fall short, retailer ‘remains optimistic’ about the holidays;

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi fell more than 3% in Wednesday morning trade. The declines came despite the firm posting a roughly 19% year-over-year surge in its adjusted net profit in Q3.

Day Ahead 

Earnings: Deere & Co;

Macro: U.S. Core Durable Goods Orders, U.S. Core PCE Price Index, U.S. Preliminary GDP (Q3), U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment and Expectations, U.S. New Home Sales; U.S. FOMC Meeting Minutes Released.

WRAP

The Dow Jones rallied on Tuesday, breaking above 30,000 for the first time amid positive vaccine news, hope for a strong economic recovery in 2021 and easing of political uncertainty as the Trump administration approved the start of the presidential transition. 

The Dow surged 1.5% with Energy and Financial stocks leading the index. The small-cap Russell 2000 also hit an all-time high, gaining 1.9%. European markets close higher amid vaccine optimism and Biden transition progress. Precious metals were weak again while oil surged more than 4%. Bitcoin closed at a record high (not quite intraday high), above the $19,100 close on Dec 16th 2017.

QUOTE

“Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali.