Stock Market Today: Dow Shoots Past 26K in Third Straight Gain
BA jumps 13%; AXP helps Dow rally continue
The Dow is 3-for-3 in June, with a third consecutive day of gains triggered by more data suggesting that the deepest depths of America's economic trench are behind it.
ADP reported that private payrolls declined by 2.76 million in May, which was significantly better than the 8.75 million expected. ISM's non-manufacturing activity index readout from May also improved -- to 45.4, from 41.8 in April -- suggesting that the services industry still is contracting, but at a slower rate.
That added more kindling to ongoing rallies in economically sensitive industries such as airline stocks. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) gained 7.3% Wednesday and has shot 30.0% higher over the past two weeks. The Dow, which cleared the 26K level with a 2.1% gain to 26,269, was led by the likes of Boeing (BA, +13.0%) and American Express (AXP, +6.4%).
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Investors can find positive momentum across the board. The S&P 500 closed 1.4% higher to 3,122.87. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% today to put it less than 2% away from record highs. Small-cap stocks are gaining steam, too, with the Russell 2000 improving by another 2.6% on Wednesday. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been the best of the major indices over the past two weeks, rallying a sharp 8.5% as economic indicators crawl out of the basement.
Investors who want to piggyback the mega-cap index's momo, however, should look at its components on a case-by-case basis. Here, we've broken down the entire Dow 30, from worst to first, based on how Wall Street collectively views these stocks. Read on for the full rankings, as well as what the pros have to say about why they're hot for, or hesitant about, each of these well-known blue chips.
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